A Thing About You
by ArcaFeretory
Summary: "What a beautiful mess, One part angel, one part perfect, one part a wreck, The kind of flood you'll never forget" - I did a thing. I've been meaning to put this idea down for a while, so here we go. AU - PS, I suck at updates and stuff. And now I've started using lyrics as descriptions here too. Wonderful.
1. If You Don't Jump

**Now, I don't normally write AU stories. But I've been meaning to put this one into words since... well since a while ago (probably around the time I saw ****_What Was Missing_****). In my mind it seemed like a fantastic idea, but we'll see. I'd love to say what it's going to be about, but that would ruin the surprise. So I won't. Instead, let me just tell you that it's a challenge a friend gave me a few years ago.**

**My friend doesn't watch Adventure Time, but this is just the ****_perfect _****opportunity to do this. Seriously. I'm so excited. :D**

**I apologise in advance: updates will be sporadic at best. So if you get into this story, BUG ME about it. I respond well to being pressured.**

* * *

It was a quiet evening in the diner, other than the cashier, just one person remained. She sat in the corner booth underneath the air conditioning vent so the cool air blasted her from above. It wasn't a particularly warm evening; she just preferred the cold to the heat. She sighed into her teacup; fingers splayed around the glass, eyes closed, and the sound of the spring storm pattering rain against the roof nearly enough to put her to sleep.

"Are you feeling ok, Bonnie?" Peter, the cashier asked. He had a red and white checked towel over one shoulder and a tray in his hands, still cleaning up the last of the tables. "You need a lift or something?"

She shook her head tiredly. "No thank you, Pete. My car's at the curb."

"Alright," he said with a shrug and a wan smile. "Much as I'd love to let you sit there all evening though, I do have to shut up soon."

Bonnie nodded, slumping forward in her seat, arms stretched out across the table. The phone in her bag on the seat beside her beeped once but she ignored it. It was probably just her brother again, asking if she was coming home for the weekend. She still didn't know if she would or not, it was just so _hard_ to juggle everything.

The door to the diner blew open and slammed against the wall, bouncing it hit so hard. Cold air rushed in and brought with it a few drops of rain. Those few drops turned into a puddle as a woman stepped inside. She had a bright red knapsack slung over one shoulder, one hand clasped around the handle of a wheeled suitcase, trailing behind her and also a crimson colour; and her other hand clutched a third bag that looked like an instrument case of some kind. It too looked like a tomato. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, shaking raven hair pulled up in a rough ponytail. Wet strands hung everywhere, across her face, down around her shoulders, curling across her neck; it was a bedraggled and pitiful sort of hair style. And, from her knee high belted boots, to her frayed skinny jeans, to her tattered shirt and partly unzipped leather jacket, she was dressed all in black.

"Sup, yo?" she said to Peter. "Mind if I stop here a moment? It's a bit wet out." She grinned lopsidedly and sank into the closest chair.

"I was just about to close up, ma'am," Peter informed her. He had a wary look in his eye and Bonnie didn't blame him. She dressed like a punk rocker.

She waved him away. "Nah, don't worry about it. I just need to sit for a bit. New to town right? I've got no idea where I'm going. It's changed so much since I passed through last time." Her grin turned into a wry smirk and she swept her dark eyes across the room. They landed on Bonnie and she positively beamed.

Bonnie sank away from the stare, trying to make herself as small as possible. She wasn't precisely _afraid_ of the darkly clad woman, but she didn't trust her either. She decided it was past time for her to be gone. Her phone beeped again just as she snatched it off the chair and slid out of the booth, cup in hand. Bonnie swirled the dregs a few times before placing it gently on the counter, she could still feel dark eyes on her back.

"You off, then Bonnie?" Peter asked, dragging the cup towards him and adding it to the pile of still dirty dishes.

"Yes, I think so." It took a superhuman effort to keep from glancing over her shoulder anxiously. "Thanks for the drink."

He smiled, wiping red hair out of his eyes. "Any time, dear. You be careful. Have you found a tenant yet?"

She shook her head and hitched her bag higher. "Still looking. It's prudent to be careful about sharing living space with someone. I wish Robert would move back in, it was so much easier with him." She sighed, her brother had moved out of her apartment and across town to be closer to his job. Bonnie missed him.

Peter gave her his best reassuring smile. "Yes well… I'm glad you're being careful. Take _care_ of yourself, Bonnie. These late nights can't be good for you."

Bonnie smiled at his concern, lifted a hand in farewell and exited, ducking her head against the rain blowing in under the awning. She made a point of ignoring the smiling stare shot her way by the dark woman. Peter would kick her out shortly, or he'd call Billy down from upstairs. No one said 'no' to Billy.

She drove slowly through the downpour, wipers going like crazy across her windshield and by the time she finally got home (about thirty minutes thanks to wet-weather-traffic) all she wanted to do was sleep. Still, knowing it was a bad idea to be so negligent – and with Peter's warning fresh in her mind – she made sure to eat and shower before collapsing on her bed. Bonnie pressed her face into her pillow thanking all the gods in the world that tomorrow was Friday.

* * *

It was the infernal knocking at her door that woke her, not the alarm as she'd expected. Groaning groggily, she rolled over and peered blearily at the clock on her bedside table. The little glowing numbers read 9:14am and it was with a swift curse that she bounded out of bed. She must not have set it the night before; it should have woken her two hours ago.

Practically falling out of bed, she snatched her glasses off the table and slipped them over her ears. She paused only long enough to throw on a coat before hustling out to the door. The knocks came in clusters of three she noted.

_Knock-knock-knock_

Curious, Bonnie paused in the act of sliding back the deadbolt. What an unusual habit this person had. They were also incredibly determined; the banging didn't let up once.

_Knock-knock-knock_

_Knock-knock-knock_

_Knock-knock-knock_

She tilted her head to one side, thinking with her tongue pressed between her teeth. Not just collections of three, but the grouped knocks were also bracketed in larger groups of nine. After each third pound was a slight pause before the next three, then after the ninth a somewhat longer pause before they resumed again. Fascinating.

Bonnie pushed back the deadbolt and yanked the door open. Hand still upraised to knock; the woman's eyes took a moment to focus on her face. Bonnie very nearly asked if the person knew about their curious knocking habits. Then she squinted through her glasses, brow pulled down in a frown and she gasped in surprise, stepping back.

"Morning sunshine," said the woman happily. She was wearing the broadest grin of anyone ever coupled with a red and black striped pullover, scuffed denim jeans and black buckled boots. The woman who'd burst into the diner yesterday, her hair less dishevelled than it had been and her clothes somewhat more presentable, but still her.

"Hello…?" Bonnie said warily. She might look cleaner this morning, but the other woman still dressed like some sort of punk rock fan. She shouldn't be judging, she hated when people judged her so it was only fair she reserve her opinions. For the moment at least.

The woman waved a piece of paper in the space between them. "You got space to rent, yeah? I need a place to crash while I'm in town."

Bonnie crossed her arms but stepped back, a silent invitation for the woman to come in. "How long are you staying?" She didn't mention that she was picky about roommates, but from the sly glance she got, the woman had already guessed as much. The woman didn't move at first, and Bonnie had to say, "Come in," before she did.

She shrugged, dragging her belongings through the door and leaving them in a messy pile. "Indefinitely I guess," she said, still grinning. Bonnie didn't trust her smile; it reminded her of a Cheshire cat. "Got some family business to sort out. I'd stay with my brother across town, but he's already got a roommate. And he uh… gets up to some things I don't need to know about." She waggled her eyebrows in a way that made Bonnie even more uncomfortable.

Her mind whirled; thinking through all the possible reasons to say 'no' to this chick. Despite her appearance though, she seemed friendly enough and didn't have a ton of belongings to leave lying around everywhere. She opened her mouth to say that she wanted to ask a few questions, but the woman cut her off.

"Look," she began, smile fading somewhat. "I know you're one of those suspicious people who probably wants to control every little thing. And you don't trust me. That's fine." She raised her right hand and placed her left one over her heart. "I promise not to bring boys over or have parties. How's that?" Her smile was cheeky again, but she seemed sincere. Bonnie couldn't argue with it.

She sighed. "Fine. You can stay. Just don't trash the place."

That blinding smile burst back onto her face and she stuck out one pale hand. "Sweet. I'm Marceline Abadeer."

Bonnie eyed the hand with its black nail polish and leather wrist bands, but eventually took it. "Bonnibel Bubblegum," she replied softly.

She hadn't thought it possible, but the smile widened. "Bubblegum? Weird name. I'll just call you Bonnie." Marceline winked.

She blinked. Nobody really called her that. All sorts of other names, yes, and she tended to _think_ of herself as 'Bonnie' but… most people called her Elle. She didn't mind so much. In spite of herself, she smiled back.

That smile faded when Marceline headed for the kitchenette and pulled open the door. She rummaged around for a few moments then backed out, grimacing. "You don't have any strawberries," she accused softly with a shake of her head. "What kinda person doesn't have strawberries?"

Bonnie bristled. "Let me show me your room," she ground out between clenched teeth. So she hadn't shopped in a while, life had been busy. Infuriating woman. Bonnie hoped she didn't regret agreeing to this. Although she probably would, her brother said that despite her obnoxious intelligence she was the most indecisive person he knew.

Her apartment wasn't anything fancy really, only five rooms. The entrance, lounge, kitchenette and dining room were all one large space and the dining table didn't even get used that much. Mostly it was just where she dumped her bags after an overly long day and was too tired to be neat. There was a short hall by the lounge area that branched off into a bathroom, two bedrooms (one of which was empty save for a bed) and a study room. The study room was the largest of all of them and was initially meant to be a bedroom. Bonnie didn't need a great deal of space to sleep in though and the desk in her bedroom hadn't been enough for her to work with so her stuff had spilled into the study. Where she'd permanently set up an array of computer screens, a desk and several bookshelves. All of which was messier than she would like to admit.

Of course, when she told Marceline she'd show her the spare bedroom, what the other woman had heard was 'take a look around'. So she stuck her head in every doorway to investigate. She cackled when she saw the study. Bonnibel was not in any way amused.

"This is your space," Bonnie said tartly, throwing open the door. Marceline bounced through and flopped down on the mattress. There were no sheets on the bed, she'd never thought to worry, but Marceline smiled anyway.

"Awesome, this is great, thanks." She collapsed back on the bed, arms spread out, with palms flat. "Yeah… I like it." She rolled onto her feet in a surprisingly graceful movement and flounced out the door. Bonnibel followed her, somewhat apprehensive, but all she did was grab her bags and heave them through the door. Well, she heaved the rucksack, the suitcase she rolled to the corner and the instrument case (Bonnie thought it might be for a guitar of some kind) she laid gently on the bed.

"Oh!" Bonnibel had just recalled one very important detail. She hurried to her room, ignoring Marceline's curious expression. Digging through her bedside table she came up with what she was after, letting out a satisfied grunt. Back across the hall, she tossed the key to her new roommate. It flashed in the low light shining through the curtains and Marceline snatched it one handed from the air.

"A spare key," Bonnie told her. "You'll need it I suppose. I'm going out. Don't break anything."

Marceline smirked. "Dressed like that?" She eyed Bonnibel pointedly and it was then she recalled she was still in her pyjamas.

Bonnie's cheeks heated somewhat. "Obviously not," she snapped, storming back to her room to change. When she emerged (dress, stockings, shoes and thick coat later), Marceline was still lying on the mattress with a smile on her face. "Now I'm going out," she declared and stalked to the door. She made a point of shutting it just a little bit too hard.


	2. A Little Leeway

**I don't normally upload things so close together. Such swift updates will not be a regular thing (much as that pains me to say). Still not going to tell you where I'm taking it though. But I will thank everyone for reading and/or enjoying that first one. Means a lot. :D**

* * *

"Weren't you supposed to go visit your brother this weekend?"

Bonnibel sighed. She'd forgotten to check her phone. "Yeah," she breathed. "He'll get over it though. I visit him _all the time_. I think it's time he came to me for a change."

Rain lifted one eyebrow curiously. She pushed her blonde hair from her face and smiled at Bonnibel. "Come on, you know you don't mean that. You love going to visit him."

"More to that, Rain?" she asked, pursing her lips.

"You let life get too far in the way, Elle," her friend consoled. "You don't have to spend every moment working you know."

And yet she did. Bonnie had two jobs… well three and a hobby. During the school semester she worked as a tutor for a local high school. They'd needed an after-hours science teacher for some of the kids and Bonnie had been only too happy to help out; and she was a past student. She also worked at the library, every morning except Friday and Sunday. Then there was her job as a research assistant at the science facility which sort of doubled as a hobby. Rain was right, she worked herself ragged, but it was better to keep busy.

"Visit your brother," Rain insisted. "I hear he has a new roommate. Then get yourself a guy and do something other than sit up to the wee hours of the morning. Caffeine won't keep you going forever."

That was true. Eventually she'd build up a tolerance to it and imbibing too much could be dangerous. She sighed again. "I don't have time for any of that Rain. I have to–"

"Have to what, Bonnibel? Work yourself to death?" Her friend frowned. "No, take a week off. I'm sure your bosses will forgive you. It's nearly the mid-semester holidays. Take a break."

"I'll take time for a break when the holidays get here, Rain."

"You said that last year then got another part time job." It was just like Rain to be blunt, but that sounded almost cynical. "Please? For me?"

Bonnibel did some quick calculations. The holidays were three weeks away, nearly a month, maybe they could compromise. Bonnie steadfastly refused to take too much time off.

"I'll visit my brother tomorrow," she relented. "But then I'm working for two weeks. I'll take time off after that."

Rain beamed and opened her mouth. Bonnibel knew exactly what her next argument would be and she didn't want to hear it. They'd had that talk many, many times over the years.

"No guys, Rain," she interjected. "Not one."

Her friend pouted, folding arms sheathed in a rainbow sweater. "You _always_ say that. You need more friends."

Bonnie smiled. "I have plenty of friends. Plus, you might be happy to know, I finally got a roommate. So there."

Rain's face lit up and she leaned across the table. They were sitting at a table of a restaurant near the shopping mall, waiting for some friends. Rain danced on the awnings with a soft _pittr-pattr_ sound. "You did? A guy?"

"No Rain, I just said no guys," Bonnie said, trying to smother a smile. "A girl. She's… different. You'd probably like her." _She's outside my comfort zone anyway_, she added in her head. _Just like you always wanted_.

"Can I meet her?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Maybe. I wouldn't say _I'm_ friends with her. But maybe."

"Hey girls!"

They both turned. Their friends had finally arrived. Jake with his shaggy brown hair, plonked himself beside Rain and kissed her cheek. Then he shook his head, spattering both of them with water. His adopted brother Finn slid onto a seat beside Bonnie and smiled his crazy bright smile, blue eyes shining with his usual over-enthusiasm.

"Good afternoon," Bonnie greeted. "You're late."

"Traffic," Finn replied, shoulders slumped. His curly blonde hair was plastered across his skull and he blew a few strands off his face. "Wet weather makes people crazy."

That was certainly true enough. Of course, now that the boys had arrived, Bonnie had to recap the conversation she'd already had with Rain about her new roommate. And, as was their wont, they _insisted_ on meeting her.

All afternoon in fact, they pestered her about Marceline who (in Finn's words) sounded 'rad'. Once they finally managed to get out of her that she was indeed going to visit her brother for the weekend, they demanded to go with. Bonnie did not like this. Her Friday was falling apart.

"I don't even know if she'd want to," Bonnibel whined at them. "She doesn't seem like the kind of person who makes friends easily." Which was unequivocally true.

"Aw, Elle," said Finn, bouncing a little too energetically for someone who didn't drink caffeine. "You're just saying that. I'm sure she's pure awesome."

Bonnie sighed. There really was no point in arguing. "Fine," she allowed. "I will _ask_ her. But if she says she'd rather sit around doing… whatever she does, then I'm not going to press the issue. Got it?" She felt like their mother, and from the look on Finn's face, he thought the same thing. Besides, Bonnibel didn't really care to be friends with this girl. Her parents would not approve.

* * *

Before she even opened the door to her apartment she knew something was up. It was unlocked for starters and there was a low throb coming from inside. Still holding her unnecessary keys in one hand and the plastic take-out bag in the other, Bonnie hipped the door open and her mouth dropped.

Everything had been rearranged.

Her old school television had been replaced with a wide screen of some kind, her sofa was accompanied by bean bags and a stand full of CDs now sat in one corner. There were even wall mounted speakers. Other than that, it was clean. Every single surface had been dusted, swept and polished. She could actually _see_ the top of her dining table, a feat she hadn't been able to manage in months.

The throbbing wasn't coming from the television, however. It emanated from down the hall and, with a soft jangle as she dropped the keys on the table, Bonnie went to investigate. Her study was still a mess, thankfully and her bedroom was in a similar state of disarray, the bathroom had an extra towel on one rack and a waterproof bag under the sink, but it too remained relatively untouched.

Which left just one room: Marceline's.

Still holding the food bag, Bonnie pushed open the door and was stunned for a second time. The bed had sheets on it, including a black and white quilt and pillows. There were pillows now. Another beanbag sat in one corner, a desk with two computer monitors had been set up accompanied by a rather comfortable looking swivel chair. A small bookshelf leaned on the wall by the door and it was full of more albums, movies and even a few books, some quite large.

Sitting on the swivel chair with bulky headphones wrapped around her head was the room's owner. She had a large guitar in her lap and was singing softly into the microphone attached to her headphones. It was… a lot to take in.

She must have made a sound of some kind (in which case Marceline had super human hearing to have picked it up over her music) or she'd seen the door open with her peripherals. Bonnibel assumed it was the latter. Marceline, already equipped with her cheeky smile, spun on the chair.

"Sup, Bonnie? Have a good day?" Her eyes glittered with mischief. Or maybe she was just naturally happy all the time.

Bonnibel, mouth still open, eyes still staring, nodded. "Yeah it was great," she murmured. "I see you had a productive day."

Marceline laughed. "You like it? I haven't decorated a room in _years_. It was fun." She spun back to her computer, clicked a few things with her mouse and then dropped her headphones around her neck.

"I'm just… stunned," she whispered. "Did you go shopping or did your suitcase belong to Mary Poppins?"

"I _am_ Mary Poppins," said Marceline, smiling. "Nah, I went shopping. And my computers were in storage. My brother brought them with him when he moved; I just had to pick them up."

Fair enough, she supposed. There was really no reason to enquire about money, Bonnie wasn't that nosey. Instead she concentrated on thinking up a way to ask about tomorrow without coming across as weird. They didn't know each other in the slightest, so would it seem presumptuous to ask such a thing? It was only a trip to the other side of town. She probably wouldn't stay the night… although sometimes she did.

"Something on your mind, Bon?" Marceline asked. "You look lost in your brain."

"Oh, no," she breathed. "I'm fine I guess. It's just… never mind." It felt awkward. Bonnie hated awkward things.

"Spit it out, Glasses, would you?" Her fingers flicked and a low _blannng_ came from the strings of her guitar.

"Well." She took a deep breath. "My friends have been bugging me about getting a roommate for ages. Now that I finally have one they're being very stubborn about meeting you. I have to go across town tomorrow anyway to meet my brother and they generally tag along. Any chance you'd come with?"

Marceline's grin practically split her face in two. "My, you're friendly for someone I just met, Bonnibel." Her fingers kept fiddling with the strings. "Sure, I'll come meet your geeky friends. And your brother." She wiggled her eyebrows again and Bonnie huffed.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms, already regretting her decision to let this woman stay. "Fine. Be up in the morning, it's an hour drive with traffic."

Marceline raised a hand in mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."


	3. Chance is Like Lightning

**Told you I was fail at updates. I will attempt a semi-regular basis though. And the next... installment (can these be called chapters?) will be longer. I'll make sure of it. How are we all? Doing well? Excellent. Enjoy your Sunday~**

* * *

"So, we gotta pick your friends up too, Bonnie?" Marceline asked around a mouthful of cereal. It was quite the bowl she was working on, Bonnibel wasn't entirely sure she'd actually eat it all. But then again, she was doing a pretty good job so far.

"No. They'll meet us there." She had to call it from the bathroom. She hadn't slept well during the night, too many things bouncing around in her head. Too many ways this could go wrong.

Bonnie hated that about herself. While she was generally an optimist, sometimes she just couldn't help but work out all the bad things that could happen. And today, there were quite a few. Seeing as she'd tossed and turned to the wee hours of the morning, she'd been up well before Marceline. At least, she thought she had, the other woman's light had been on all night too. Maybe she hadn't slept either.

Once she was dressed she paced back and forth across the living room waiting for Marceline to get ready. She was impatient and anxious at the same time and it was the strangest stomach churning combination she'd ever felt. Her brain was doing too many things at once and it was tired.

"Sheesh," Marceline said. "Relax, Bonnie. Please, you're driving _me_ batty." Then she chuckled as if at a private joke.

"You're not ready, Marceline," she snapped. "We're going to be late."

"Is your brother going someplace?"

Was he? "Not that I know of."

"Then relax. Put something on telly, I won't be long." She kept grumbling as she tossed her dishes in the sink and slouched off to change out of her pyjamas.

Grumbling, Bonnie fell onto a beanbag and flicked the television on. She scrolled through the channels for a moment before deciding there was nothing worth her time (read: no documentaries). Heaving herself from the squishy chair, she resumed her pacing. It took her all of a minute to decided that from the island bench in the kitchenette to the back of the sofa was six and a half comfortable steps and another thirty seconds to decide that wasn't far enough. Plus that little half step at the end kept throwing her off.

She extended her route to the wall where the television was mounted. This increased the distance to nearly nine steps. The little extra still forced her to add a skip at the end. Grumbling, she decided to try again but go all the way to the fridge. At which point, Marceline exploded from the end of the hallway with a bag over her shoulder and a grin on her face.

"The floor's already polished, Bonnie," she said cheekily. "You don't have to do it yourself." Dressed once more in all black clothes save for her red boots and grey cap, Marceline – it appeared – was at last ready to leave.

"About time," Bonnibel growled. She stalked past the dining table, snatched up her keys and bag before marching out the door. Marceline barely made it through as Bonnie slammed it on her heels. "I did say it'd take an hour didn't I?"

"You did. But we have all day."

In a flash, Bonnie was struck by a feeling of guilt. Marceline had agreed to this to satisfy the curiosity of her friends. But Bonnie hadn't given any thought to plans the other woman might have made.

"This didn't… conflict with something you wanted to do… did it?" she asked hesitantly.

Of all things, Marceline gave her a reassuring look. "No, thanks though. I was going to meet my brother later today. He lives across town too. Apparently he's moved in with this prudish fellow who doesn't have any alcohol in the apartment. He was very upset." She grinned again. "I'd like to meet the dude who can stare down Marshall. He must be really something."

Bonnie didn't want to reply. She just wanted the day to be over. Then she could pretend she didn't care about the other woman and they could stop being friendly. She didn't _want_ to be friends. And Rain could think what she wanted about that.

The drive was, as expected, obscenely long. It was only made more so by the stretched silences that filled the cab. Marceline wore her perpetual half-smile, but made no effort to engage in a conversation. But Bonnie hated awkward silences.

"So where are you from?" she asked at last. Cities were the worst; they were full of traffic lights and arrogant, selfish drivers. Traffic lights were boring. She drummed her fingers on the wheel, wanting desperately to have something to do. Normally while she was driving she'd play a voiced recording of some theoretical paper, but she figured that wouldn't go down too well with Marceline the musician.

Surprisingly, Marceline did actually answer her question. And the response was surprising too. Or… maybe not if she thought about it hard enough. "Been a lot of places," she said with a shrug. "Originally… well I was born in England, lived there a long time. Went to America a few years back and stayed a _really_ long time. Only just moved to Australia. Family visits and so forth. Haven't seen my dad since I left England. Got some other friends here too." Well… that at least explained the slight accent. She sounded southern. "What about you?"

"Been here my whole life," Bonnie replied, pulling up at yet _another_ red light. "I go out to the countryside sometimes to visit family. My parents live just outside town. But my brother and I boarded here in town. We sort of graduated from one institution and moved in to the next campus straight away." She shrugged this time. "When he got a job he moved out of our apartment to be closer."

Marceline bobbed her head, fingers moving as if playing an instrument. She kept glancing at the radio. "Ugh, look. Can I just turn on the radio? Please? How can you bear to sit in a quiet car?" She shuddered.

Bonnie lifted one eyebrow, smiling slightly. "Yeah go ahead. You might want to eject the CD that's in there though."

From the cheeky grin on her face again, Bonnie guessed she wouldn't eject the CD. Consequently, the soft voice of a doctor in neurophysics filled the car. It was a lecture on brain function and its networks that she'd attended when a guest speaker had visited the university nearby. She loved listening to it, everything made sense when there was science involved.

"Ah!" Marceline exclaimed, hastily pressing eject. She did it a few times just to be sure. "What was that?"

"A theory on higher brain function and related diseases," Bonnie explained. "I told you to eject it."

Marceline pulled a face. "You listen to _lectures_ in the car? Wow. That's just… wow." With one long finger and her thumb, Marceline adjusted the tuning knob on the radio until she found a station she liked. "That is way sad, Bonnie. You need to get out more."

Despite the words, Bonnie felt that Marceline hadn't meant it badly. Sort of like an observation.

"Yes I do. Music isn't really my thing."

The look on Marceline's face as she said that was one of pure and unrestrained horror. "How dare you speak such filthy words," the pale woman said, appalled. "You take them back. I'll rinse your mouth out with soap."

"I've never found music to be very… stimulating."

"You just haven't found the right songs yet." Bonnie glanced over at her, suddenly worried. The smile she usually wore – the cocky one – was gone, replaced by something else. The corners of her mouth were still quirked up, but it was more a look of determination than anything else. As if she'd just accepted a challenge and was determined to see it through.

"What are you thinking?" Bonnie asked apprehensively.

"I'm going to find music you like," Marceline announced happily. "And revolutionise your way of seeing the world." She shook her head, still shocked by what Bonnie had said. "Life just isn't worth living without music, Bonnie. It's just not."

Despite trying her very best not to like the other woman, her tenacity for the remainder of the trip was endearing. Marceline scoured every station the radio picked up; trying to find a song Bonnibel would appreciate. She failed. But that didn't throw Marceline off; she claimed the only reason Bonnie didn't like any of that music was because it was 'stale, money making, pop tunes'.

"Well," Marceline sighed, leaning back in her chair. "If you can't find it already in circulation, make it yourself." She grinned as they pulled up outside the small house Bonnie's brother shared with his roommate. "Hey," she snapped upright. "That's where my brother lives!"


	4. A Silly Little Song

**I am definitely going to try to upload every week. Probably on Sundays. c:**

* * *

It was a modest affair really, just a small white-washed plaster board house, big enough for two people. Nestled snugly between almost identical houses on either side with quaint picket fences separating them, with grass mown to her brother's demanding standards and bushes pruned back lining the fence and path, it was nothing if not picturesque. However, Bonnibel wasn't paying the house a great deal of attention, she was too busy staring slack-jawed at her roommate.

"This house?" Bonnie asked, jerking her thumb at the place they were idling in front of. "This one right here?"

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Yeah this one. Pull into the drive already, you never know when someone will come through and you're blocking _the whole street_."

Still spluttering, Bonnie turned the car up the paved drive and the car shuddered silent. For a moment she just sat there with Marceline's curious eyes on her. Then, taking a deep breath, she launched out of the car, hesitantly, her roommate followed.

"That's crazy," Bonnibel grumbled. "Do you have any idea what the odds are that your brother moved in with mine?" Her pitch had risen all the way through that so that by the end it was rather shrill.

"No. But I have a feeling you do," Marceline teased. She was already walking along the path to the house. "Even if I don't care."

"It's like… obscene odds." Bonnie hurried after her. "_Obscene_. The chances are almost none."

"Clearly not. Besides, I needed a place and I found you. Marshall needed a place and he found your brother." She shrugged. "It can't be that weird. Just a funny coincidence."

Bonnie folded her arms and frowned. That smile never even wavered. "I don't believe in coincidences, Marceline."

"Maybe you should start." Marceline rang the doorbell three times and then turned back to face Bonnibel. "There're a lot of unexplainable things in the world, Bonnie. Supernatural things, magic and the like. You shouldn't be so narrow minded."

"There's no such thing as magic," she mumbled.

Before Marceline could respond (and it would've been a real doozy from the smile canted on her face) the door opened. Her brother, Robert, filled the frame. His usually tidy blonde hair was somewhat ruffled, as if he'd just woken up; he wasn't wearing his glasses either and had to squint to make out who it was. Even his collared white shirt and tan slacks were rumpled.

"Elle!" he exclaimed, dark green eyes widening as he recognised her. Robert stepped to one side allowing her through. "Been a long time. I didn't expect you to be able to find the time to spare from your hectic schedule."

"Ha, ha," she said dryly. Bonnie slipped her shoes off and slid them under the hat stand before entering the house proper. Marceline was still on the stoop, the toes of her shoes pressed against the sill. She watched the exchange with dark eyes; her smile wasn't quite to its usual vibrancy. She appeared to be waiting for something.

"Who's this?" Robert asked, lifting one eyebrow in Marceline's direction.

"My new roommate."

His eyes widened. "Oh! Come in, come in. No friend of my sister's will stand outside all day. I'm Robert." He grinned and stuck out his hand enthusiastically, but he still seemed tired.

Now Marceline stepped through, kicking her shoes off the same as Bonnie had done, smirk and all. "Pleasure to meet you, Robert. The name's Marceline." She shook the hand offered and strolled past them both, already snooping about. "Nice place."

"_Marcy?_"

They all froze in the living room; Marceline already half lowered into a sofa, as another fellow came bounding through from the kitchen wielding a butter knife coated in… something. He was not as broad in the shoulders, or as tall as Robert, but lanky and lean like his sister. They had the same shock of pitch black hair and the same deep, dark eyes. Even their smiles were the same: wonky and impish. Unlike his not-quite-but-almost-monochrome sister, Marshall was wearing a grey and red plaid shirt, top three buttons undone, sleeves pushed up to his elbows, blue jeans (still tattered, must be a taste they shared) and simple high tops. He was just as pale though.

"Hey Marshall," she replied brightly. "Fancy seeing you here."

Marshall didn't seem to know whether to be excited about his sister's unexpected visit or just stunned. His face seemed to be leaping between both expressions quite rapidly. In the end, excitement won over and he bounced to his sister and threw his arms around her.

"Marceline!" He had a deep voice, but in that moment, it was more of a shriek still. "I didn't realise you were in town."

"You dolt," she said, slapping him away. "I got my stuff from storage yesterday. Don't you check your emails?"

Marshall looked sheepish at that and hunched his shoulders. "Um… no." He waved his hands; forestalling anything else Marceline might have to say. "Dude, why are you even here? Who's your friend?"

Marceline blinked, momentarily forgetting what she was doing here. "Oh, this is Bonnie. She graciously put me up." Her grin was back and blinding as ever. "She dragged me out here today to meet her brother and some friends."

"No way," Marshall cried. "Rob is her brother? That's _way_ weird." He grabbed his sister's arm. "Lemme show you around, huh?" She sighed, but let him drag her off.

"When are the others getting here, Elle?" Rob asked her once the other two had vanished into another room. He sank into one of the chairs and patted the spot next to him. Bonnie noticed that a television had replaced the artwork that used to hang in his living space. Its flat black screen reflecting the hallway behind them, the direction Marceline and Marshall had wandered off in. It wasn't particularly engrossing, staring at it, but it remained off. Neither she nor Rob had ever watched a great deal of television.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," Bonnie admitted. "I didn't tell them when to arrive. They'll be here before lunch though I'm sure." Rain at least wouldn't want to dawdle.

"And… uh…" he jerked his head behind him. "Is she alright as a roommate? Not too crazy?"

Surprising herself, Bonnibel smiled. "Nah, she's okay. Different, but okay. Not the worst by far."

"And she's a girl."

"Yes, that'll make dad happy." Her father was very much against either of his children living with a member of the opposite gender. Apparently it was 'too forward'. She sighed. Her parents were so conservative that she was mostly glad to have spent so much time away from them.

Bonnibel continued to stare at the reflection in the television screen. The hall behind her was empty, painted white just like every other room in the house and had three doors leading off it; two bedrooms and a bathroom. She could see into the end room (a bedroom) because the door was open a crack. From the mess on the floor, it was probably Marshall's; her brother was too meticulous to leave things lying around. As she watched, the door opened up further, then swung shut, the handle bobbing slightly in what must have been a breeze. A baby piano was behind her as well, it had once been in the corner where a stereo system had gone in; more of Marshall's handiwork.

Suddenly the couch beside her dipped and Marshall was right next to her, grinning. Bonnie frowned; how had he gotten there? She'd been watching down the hall the whole time. Maybe there was another way through, a side door perhaps.

"So, Bonnie," he said through a smile just as blinding as Marceline's. "Marcy says you're a geek. What do you geek out too?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You know… what music do you listen to?"

She opened her mouth to explain that music wasn't something she had a great deal of time for, but Marceline beat her to it. "She doesn't do music, Mar," she said teasingly. "She listens to old dudes talk about science stuff."

His mouth dropped. "We need to fix this." He leapt to his feet, still on the couch, then swung himself over the back of the chair. "Marcy get the piano."

"I am _not_ playing," Marceline huffed, crossing her arms.

"Dude. Come on. Your roommate is a tight-wad like mine. Let's educated them."

Bonnie and Rob exchanged glances and twisted in their seats to watch Marshall race into his room. _I'm a tight-wad, huh_? Bonnibel thought to herself. She glared at Marceline but the other woman just slouched into the seat, sulking, ignoring them all.

Marshall came back down the hall with a guitar in his hands and the most pathetic pleading look on his face. "Come on, Marceline," he whined. "_Please_?"

She glowered at her brother. "I don't want to." Yet she made the mistake of looking up at his big eyes and sighed. "Fine," she grumbled, jerking to her feet. "One song. But no Beethoven. You know that man annoys me. Hack."

Marshall beamed and launched into a song that neither of the Bubblegum siblings could identify. He didn't tell them either, just played. It took Marceline a moment to catch up, but then her long fingers danced across the piano keys like the wind through leaves. Regardless that Bonnibel didn't spend much time enjoying music (and that Marceline had so far failed to find anything she did like), she quite enjoyed their music. They both looked so wrapped up in it, as though simply by making sounds they were transported to another dimension. Grumpy Marceline even smiled.

That's when the door burst open and Finn charged through with Jake and Rain hot on his heels. The Abadeer's didn't even flinch; it was as if they hadn't noticed. They just played to the end of the song, and by the time they reached it, Bonnie's three friends had calmed down a bit. Rain seemed rather impressed.

"I'm not playing anymore, alright, Marshall." Marceline slammed the top of the piano down harder than she needed to. "I hate playing for people."

Marshall sneered. "You were in a band for–" he cut off, realising more people had joined them. The harsh scowl Marceline shot him probably didn't hurt either. That look could have melted iron.

Finn waved happily. "Hey I'm Finn," he proclaimed. "This is my brother Jake and his girlfriend Rain." He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Marshall, disregarding his sister's glare, took the hand and shook it vigorously. "Pleasure. My name's Marshall and that grump-lump is my sister, Marceline."

"You play really well," Jake said, his turn to shake hands. "More talent than the band I play with."

"You're musical?" Marceline asked, sitting up straighter.

He laughed. "Yeah, viola mostly. I can do the flute too though. Don't tell anyone; it's a _girly_ instrument."

Marceline cackled at that and her smile returned. "I won't disagree with that. And you must be Rain?"

Bonnie's friend bobbed her head. "That's me. You're Bonnie's roommate, right? What are the odds that you'd be matched up; sibling for sibling?"

A wry twist soured Marceline's smile. "We've discussed that already. It's just a crazy coincidence."

"Pretty crazy," Rain replied softly with eyebrows raised. "So, Bub, how've you been?"

Bub, Robert hated that name, but that's what pretty much everyone called him. Bubba, it was a long standing joke that started as a play on 'Bob'. That was before the cheerleaders at their high school had taken to calling him 'Hubba Bubba'. It had frustrated him no end, but always made Bonnie smile. It made Marshall and Marceline grin too, exchanging mischievous glances. He was going to cop it later.

The afternoon vanished in a haze of laughter and friendly arguments. Marceline made a point of disagreeing with pretty much everything Rob said. If he'd been a cat, his fur would've been bristling. He was so angry that he stormed off more than once and came back with baking: a peace offering, he'd call it.

They moved out onto the patio late in the day because Finn wanted a bonfire. Rain was sceptical, as usual, always trying to consider their safety before everything else. But she was outvoted when Jake, Marshall and Marceline sided with Finn. They spent a few hours making what they proclaimed to be 'the biggest-ass bonfire to ever have existed in all of history'. Rain was sceptical of that too. But despite having spent the afternoon the brunt of their jokes, even Rob joined in.

"So are the two of you friends yet?" asked Rain, nodding at Marceline. The sun had just set, pink light still flaring above the horizon, but all the others had gone to sit around the fire and tell silly stories. Or make awful jokes.

Bonnibel sighed. "I don't know Rain. Why do we have to be friends?"

"You live together," she said flatly. "Wouldn't it be beneficial to _like_ her somewhat?"

"Probably."

She proceeded to ignore Rain's pointed gaze for a few minutes. Just watching the sparks flying away was soothing, but it's hard to ignore Rain forever. Especially when she started poking Bonnie in the ribs.

"Alright, she's not awful," Bonnibel conceded waspishly. "Maybe we could be friends. She jokes around a lot, but she's alright."

Satisfied, Rain stopped pestering her. For the moment at least. They'd be having this same conversation for the next two weeks. She checked her watch and was horrified at how late it had gotten.

"I have to go," she announced, standing. Rain's face was a mixture of shock and disappointment. It was a combination she wore quite a lot. That and concern. "I can't slack off all weekend Rain. I do have things that are important."

Rain sighed. "You never have things that aren't important." They walked over to the massive blaze in silence although Bonnie could tell that there was something Rain wanted to say.

"I'm going," Bonnie told them, silencing the story Marshall was telling. Something far-fetched about him being a pirate having a sword fight with Blackbeard on a sinking ship. "I have work to do tomorrow and I have to get some sleep. Marceline you can come with me or stay the night, I don't care, but I'm leaving now."

Of all the reactions Marceline could have had, pouting wasn't what Bonnie had expected. Then she sighed and clambered to her feet. "Gotta cut the party short, dontcha, Bon?" She stretched and then slouched off to find her shoes. "Whatever, let's bounce then." Rain hurried after her, whispering something in the other woman's ear.

Rob also hauled himself up. "You can stay the night you know," he said, walking with her to the front of the house. The other boys sat where they were and Marshall resumed his adventure with much hand waving.

She shook her head. "No, Bub, I can't. I have to get this research paper done for my research project and if I don't do it tomorrow I'll just die. I should have finished it today."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm much more important than your papers, Elle and you know it. Besides, it was nice to meet your roommate."

"Yeah," she sighed. "It _is_ pretty weird they're siblings too."

"Twins," Rob added. "Same as us. Small world."

Marceline was already sulking in the front passenger seat when they arrived. Bonnie slid into the seat and started the ignition. "I'll see you soon, Bub," she told him. "In two weeks I should have some time off to visit again."

"Don't work yourself too hard," he said. The tone was forced and not as cheerful as he must have hoped. He sounded worried.

Bonnie just waved and they drove off. The ride home was much the same as the one out had been only now Bonnie felt guilt gnawing at her stomach. She hadn't done any work all damn day.

"Cheer up, would you, Bon," said Marceline, fiddling with the radio again. "Not everything has to be tedium you know. You _are_ allowed to have fun once in a while."

"What did Rain say to you?"

Cheeky half smile in hand, Marceline laughed. "She wants me to make sure you don't work too hard. Apparently you have a tendency to do stupid things like… not eat. Or sleep."

"Great," Bonnie said, hunching over the steering wheel. "Now she's got you to nag me too."

Marceline shrugged. "Oh I'm sure I won't be that bad. I'll just make sure you have those three important meals every day."

It was nearly silent for the rest of the trip and when they finally made it back to their apartment, all Bonnie could do was flop face first onto her bed and lie there. Not that she could sleep anyway. She was too worried about having done nothing all day. What a waste.

She was about to get up and start something when a soft sound echoed from across the hall. It was low and deep, digging into her chest; but smooth and gentle at the same time. A paradox in her ears. Marceline was playing her bass. Bonnie felt all the tension ooze out of her as the music washed over her. This was a song she liked.

It was to this sound that she fell asleep. A proper sleep. Without nightmares or guilt ridden panic attacks. She smiled.


	5. Don't Know What You Were Thinking

**Hey guys! Have a good week? Me too. Just want to thank everyone who's read this. Means a lot. c:**

* * *

"Please tell me that's a well-rested face."

Marceline grinned and poked Bonnie in the shoulder. She was obnoxiously awake and it was already grating. Bonnie slapped the offending finger and groaned into her tea.

"This is a well-rested face that's dreading today," Bonnibel mumbled. "I should have done work yesterday. Now I'm going to be overloaded." She sank further into her chair, still marvelling at how clean the dining table was.

Marceline leaned back and stared at her, limbs sprawled everywhere, a plastic spoon dangling from her mouth. "Well, you can work to your heart's content this morning," she said, grinning. It was too early for a smile that bright. "But this afternoon I need you to pay me back for yesterday."

Bonnie groaned. "Oh god what?" she mumbled.

"You dragged me to meet your friends," Marceline clarified. "And I don't have a car. So I need you to drive me somewhere, ok? No biggie."

"Where?"

"Just to the mall, I need to buy a few things." She pulled the spoon from her mouth with a sucking sound and chucked it over her shoulder where it clattered across the rim of the bin before sliding in. "Plastic cutlery, some new guitar picks, blank discs, you know… stuff." She grinned.

"What do you need plastic cutlery for?" Bonnie asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't use the metal variety," Marceline explained with a wave of one hand. "Call it a stupid quirk."

She doesn't use metal cutlery… Weird. Bonnie wondered why briefly, but it was probably just one of those things that people do. Those inexplicable things. Still, part of her was put out by the request and wanted to say no. Marceline didn't have a car though so as a roommate it was probably good manners. She sighed.

"Fine, I'll take you to the mall," she grumbled. "But it'll be a quick trip around one. I'm not going to battle after-school craziness for you."

Marceline just kept smiling.

* * *

As it turns out, Marceline wasn't the most annoying person ever. Not really, she came close though. She made a point of playing her music loudly, popping in to grin and then disappear in a cloud of hair. She would occasionally barge in and slap headphones down around Bonnie's ears, blaring a song at her, wondering if that one was alright. After Bonnie slapped her hands away the seventh time and glared Marceline didn't do it again. Well, she didn't do it again _before_ lunch anyway. And when midday rolled around Marceline appeared in the doorway to make sure Bonnie ate.

So it wasn't as bad as it would've been if Rain had been there, but it was still pretty annoying. And when the clock chimed 1pm, Marceline swung through the doorway, hanging onto the frame with one hand supporting nearly all her weight. She was prompt when she wanted to be.

"Time to go, Bonnie," she sang happily. "Let's go!"

Bonnibel ignored her for a few minutes. Her smile went from blinding to more of a pout whereupon she evidently got sick of the stalling and hauled Bonnie to her feet. She exhibited extraordinary tenacity and single mindedness when she wanted something.

"Let's _go_," she whined. "The sooner we go, the sooner we get back. I'll even buy something for dinner as a thank you. How's that?"

"Ugh, fine, already," Bonnie groaned. Marceline didn't let go of her arm though, just dragged her down the hall. "Alright, leave off, we're going." She shrugged out of the grip and grabbed her bag, slipped on some shoes and was hustled outside by her impatient roommate.

The mall wasn't far and in the middle of the day, there wasn't even any traffic. Her car smelt of sunscreen though. It wasn't a gross scent, but it was weird.

"What's with the sunscreen?" she finally asked. It was a pretty safe assumption that it was Marceline. Bonnie wasn't wearing any.

Marceline sank as far into the seat as she could, she was wearing a broad brimmed hat today and long sleeves despite the growing heat. Jeans too, the woman was a freak. How could she stand to be wearing clothes like that now? Spring was nearly non-existent in Australia, it sort of jumped straight out of the end of winter into summer.

"Pale skin, Bonnie," Marceline said, forcing a smile. "The sun disagrees with my complexion. I burn easily."

"Yeah me too," she said. "But I don't cover up as much as you. I didn't even know I_ had_ sunscreen." It was actually nice that it was just past midday, the car park at the mall was almost deserted.

"Just habit."

She parked facing away from the mall but didn't get out. "I'll just wait. You won't be long will you?"

"Probably," Marceline grouched, getting out. She walked around the front of the car even though it would've been faster to go behind it. "It'll be hot in the car." She pointed at a café across the street; it was… not the kind of place Bonnie would usually go to. "Just go sit yourself over there and I'll meet you in a bit." Her smile reappeared as she headed off.

Something didn't seem right and Bonnie looked in the rear-view mirror, but Marceline was already gone. Must've been nothing. Honestly, she meant to do exactly what Marceline had said, but she got distracted walking past the bookstore. Bonnie promised herself she'd only duck in for a few moments, but… yeah that's not how it ended up.

It must have been at least two hours later when Marceline appeared at her elbow, hat in one hand, grin plastered across her face, eyes sparkling in the low light. "I said go to the café," she chuckled. "How long have you been here?"

Blood rushed into Bonnie's cheeks. "The whole time," she whispered. "I didn't like the look of the café." That was only part of it, and from the cheeky look Marceline got, she knew it. Marceline just kept laughing softly. In a bizarre twist, Bonnie actually managed to walk out of the store without buying something and when she saw the bags piled in the back of her car she was thankful for it.

"Did you buy the whole supermarket?" she all but screeched. There had to be several hundred dollars' worth of food on the backseat and more in the trunk. Plus the miscellany that Marceline had said she was going out for in the first place. "I hope you have a job to pay for all this."

Marceline shrugged. "Whatever. Money's not really the problem." She rubbed the side of her neck. "I guess I didn't think about how small your fridge is."

Oh yes, that was a problem too. Simple physics: that amount of food would _not_ fit in the fridge, not enough space. But Marceline shrugged it off and drew her over to the café anyway where they had afternoon tea. Marceline claimed that she was trying to find the best strawberry tart in the world. These little dirty stores that people didn't frequent a great deal were 'gold mines' she said. And much as the décor threw Bonnie off, they did have lovely tarts.

Once home, hauling the bags up to the apartment was an onerous task in and of itself. Some surprising things appeared during the process as well. Including a box wrapped in brown paper that was nearly as tall as Bonnie was. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent from asking what it contained. Marceline only grinned slyly at her when she realised what Bonnie was thinking.

As it turned out, the food didn't all fit in the fridge. Some of it spilled out into cupboards and even the pantry overflowed. Bonnie kept shooting anxious glances at the perishables, but Marceline would only shrug and say it'd all be eaten before it went bad. Rifling through the bags, Bonnie found the docket and her eyes got progressively bigger as they ran down the list of foodstuffs printed on it in pale grey letters. By the time she reached the bottom and read the total they were as wide as saucers, big green saucers full of disbelief.

"Marceline," she murmured. "This says the food cost nearly _five hundred_ dollars." Her hand shook. She didn't eat that much food in a month. "We'll never get through it, half will be thrown out!" Such a waste.

"Challenge accepted, Bonnie," Marceline called from her room where she was stealthily unboxing whatever that paper wrapped item had been. "Stop worrying so much, you'll get an ulcer. I guarantee it'll be gone in a few days." There was a metallic screeching and a pleased grunt. "Now get in here, I have something to show you."

Biting down on her tongue, Bonnie pocketed the docket and shuffled down the hall. She'd show that to her brother, he'd never believe it. No one could go through that much food. She poked her head into Marceline's room and her jaw dropped.

A little piano… keyboard? She wasn't sure what the proper term was. Either way, it was sitting in the middle of Marceline's room, plugged into the wall and Marceline's fingers were playing a soft melody across the keys.

"What?" Bonnie had no idea how to frame her question. "Why?"

Marceline turned her million-gigawatt smile on Bonnie. "Because you don't understand music and _I'm_ going to teach you. Someone has to. It's a crime against… everything that you don't music."

Bonnie frowned now, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe. She tried to put on her best cynical expression but it wasn't one she pulled out a great deal and she was rusty. "You're going to teach me how to play the piano?"

"This is a keyboard, Bon," she explained. "It's electric; it can play any sound you like. But yes. I'm going to teach you."

"You're a glutton for punishment, you know that?" Bonnie said, a smile threatening to break out across her face no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

"I just like a challenge."

"You're an idiot."


	6. More Than I Should

**It's Sunday today right? I have lost track of all things. I feel like this chapter is very lazy. Apologies. Please excuse the not-so-subtle foreshadowing also. Enjoy your week!~ I'll do better next time. u.u**

* * *

True to her word, Marceline made it her problem that Bonnie didn't understand anything vaguely musical. She _made_ Bonnie take time from her schedule to practice playing on the keyboard. Despite profound objections at first, Bonnibel was enjoying it immensely and she was even getting good at playing 'Twinkle, Twinkle', something she was hugely proud of. There had still been no progress in finding her music to listen to though and Marceline made every effort there too.

Also as promised, the food was gone in a little over four days. Not a single item had passed its 'best by' date and nothing had been thrown out. It was freakish, incredible and Bonnie couldn't help but be impressed. Despite being darkly dressed almost always, despite her Cheshire smile that made Bonnie shiver because it bordered on creepy, Marceline was the brightest person she'd ever known. She was blinding.

Marceline was the sun; by which, Bonnie means she found them both equally irritating. She hated the sun for its ability to burn her pale skin in five minutes flat and she disliked Marceline (she refused to say she hated someone) for her easy way of distracting her. With her striking smile, laid back attitude and ability to make Bonnie's skin tingle, she was just like that giant ball of gas she loathed so much. They were the same, right down to their gravitational forces; in the exact same way the Earth couldn't pull away from the sun, Bonnie found herself inexplicably grounded by the other woman. And she could never stay mad for long. The smile was the least of it though; there was just something about her that made Bonnie's anger melt and flow away, like ice-cream on a hot day.

It bugged her that Marceline could smile and she'd smile too. It bothered her that when Marceline said she'd been working too hard and she needed a break she no longer complained. She liked that damn woman far too much. It was interfering with her work. But that wasn't even the worst part; the worst bit was that she didn't care. She enjoyed being interrupted, dragged places, forced out of her comfort zone, made to try new things. Bonnie didn't even mind the time Marceline stole from her to make her practice music. It took up a larger chunk of every day than she should let it, but she didn't care. She enjoyed that too.

She even enjoyed that nocturnal nimrod playing her bass into the depths of the evening because it put her to sleep. It was the most frustrating clash of interests she'd ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

And it _was_ a pleasure.

* * *

Nearly two months after that irritating woman had moved in with her and despite furious protestations and silent resolutions, Bonnie liked her. Much to Rain's glee, they were friends. Bonnie no longer found it an imposition to drive Marceline to her brother's. She no longer found it odd when she'd wake up some mornings and find the kitchen completely devoid of food and she no longer minded going shopping to restock. Bonnie didn't mind getting dragged to dingy little restaurants and cafés, not even the ones that had façades of questionable repute or signs so dirty from neglect that the names weren't legible. She didn't mind. But she felt like she should.

Yet there were things that bothered her, a few, but not insignificant. Why did Marceline eat so much? And how, having consumed another few hundred dollars' worth of food, did she manage to _not_ be absurdly obese? Marceline refused to do seemingly insignificant things; she had strange quirks that Bonnie just couldn't reconcile. Why, when Bonnie was driving, would she not walk around the back of the car, or stop by a door? Why didn't she just drive herself? Why did she always lock the bathroom door, even when it was just to clean her teeth? She never used a mirror or proper metal utensils. It was downright bizarre and Bonnie didn't have the foggiest why she might behave like that.

Part of her wanted to treat her new friend as an experiment, a particularly stubborn one. But that felt wrong, so all she ended up doing was spending hours late at night researching types of diseases or conditions that might explain at least some of it. OCD was the most likely candidate, but even that couldn't quite explain away her tendency to stay up late at night, coat herself in sunscreen whenever she went out in the middle of the day or even her fascination with hats and plastic cutlery. None of it made any sense. She wasn't allergic to anything that Bonnie had been able to find out, but that didn't mean a damn thing.

There was only one conclusion to be had that didn't border on absurd: Marceline was weird. Very weird, in fact. But without venturing into the supernatural or superstitious explanations, that was the only one that her brain would accept.

Bonnibel didn't like mentions of 'magic' or 'monsters', as far as she was concerned, they didn't exist. There was no such thing as wizards or dragons or (God forbid) other such monstrosities as had become quite popular in culture; vampires and werewolves for example. Easy as it would be to label Marceline a vampire and move on, that was ridiculous. She ate regular food for a start, albeit a great deal of it.

And yet… no. It was stupid. She shuffled her papers, having finally concluded a research project that had taken her the better part of a fortnight. Bonnie pressed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and yawned mightily. Her watch read 11.37pm, it was late and she'd been up at similar times for nearly a week. Time for bed.

But first, she had to find out why there was no music coming from Marceline's room. Every single night there were sounds from in there, but not tonight. It was just strange enough to warrant an investigation. Surprisingly, the room was dark; Marceline wasn't there. Blinking around her grainy eyes, Bonnie headed down the hall.

Apparently the lounge chair was a fold out bed and it was currently sprawled across the living room. Marceline was lying, propped up on her elbows, at one end watching a movie and – Bonnie noted with wry surprise – eating. Legs bent at the knees she seemed completely engrossed in the movie, which was horror by the look of it. What a shocker. The volume was turned down low but that didn't seem to matter. Honestly, Marceline had the best hearing of anyone ever.

"Come on, dork," Marceline said, smiling as she looked over. "Park yourself. I have popcorn." She patted the bed next to her with one hand and gestured at a massive bowl with the other.

"I don't like horror movies, Marceline," Bonnie replied with a frown. "You know that." Marceline had tried to get her to watch some scary film about chainsaws a few weeks ago. Bonnibel hadn't seen more than fifteen minutes before she couldn't take it. Not her genre.

"I can change it. What do you wanna watch?" She bounced from the bed and grabbed a pile of cases. "We could totally watch some sappy romance. You like them right?" Marceline grinned and Bonnie felt suddenly defensive. She did _not_ like sappy romance movies.

"You don't even own one," Bonnie retorted. Then she shrugged, flopping down onto the bed. "Whatever, just not horror. I won't stay awake to the end anyway."

Marceline grimaced. "Then why bother? I could just keep watching my _scary_ movie and _you'd_ have to deal with it." Her face twisted into another smile. "As the party least likely to see the whole movie, you forfeit the right to complain."

"Shut up and put something else in."

Still smiling cheekily, Marceline slid in a disc that she kept carefully hidden from Bonnie. "If you're going to be so vague, then I'm going to pick something awful." Marceline bounded onto the bed and elbowed Bonnie in the ribs, snatching the remote away from her. She pushed the oversized bowl of popcorn at Bonnie but she just shook her head. Having already cleaned her teeth and anticipating sleep any second now, there was no way Bonnibel was going to eat anything. "Suit yourself."

It was with baited breath that Bonnie waited through the opening credits. Then she sighed. Zombies. It wasn't a relief so much as the fact that it could've been much worse. She let her elbows go out from underneath her and collapsed flat, Marceline just watched her with those sparkling eyes. The smile made her shiver. Her eyes were mesmerising, laughing and a brown so dark they were almost black, never wavering, staring.

Bonnibel's throat clenched unreasonably and her face felt flushed. The smile at the corners of Marceline's mouth twitched. It was unbearable. She ripped her gaze away and pressed her face into the bed. Her heart felt altogether too heavy and thumped uncomfortably at her rib cage. Weird.

The bed shifted beneath her and cool fingers wrapped around her wrist sending lightning along her arm. Bonnie bit her bottom lip to stifle a gasp. She wasn't sure why the touch affected her, maybe because Marceline's skin was so cold. Yeah, that'd be it.

She looked up as Marceline lifted her hand and twisted it slightly to read the numbers on her watch. Her smile thinned a little at the time but flared back up so quickly Bonnie wasn't sure she'd seen it fade. She reached behind her and snagged a pillow, thrusting it at Bonnibel.

"Go to sleep, dork," she said. Her tone was soft, almost fond. That look was back in her eyes too, they looked… _shimmery_ for lack of a better word. Bonnie's stomach did a backflip.

She made to get up, planning to head into her room to sleep, but that slow smile on Marceline's face flashed and a hand shot out. Marceline grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled her back down to the bed. She was so tired she didn't care, although the heat in the pit of her stomach fluttered wildly as Marceline held her down and Bonnie tried to tell her frustrating friend to let her go.

But her eyelids were already sliding closed and Marceline's smile was the least of her worries. The warmth bubbling in her stomach wasn't even on her mind, but that look in Marceline's eyes… there was something to it. Bonnie's brain was going to work out what eventually; she just wasn't sure whether she wanted to know. Or maybe she did, her heart fluttered and she clutched the pillow closer, _very_ conscious of Marceline lying beside her.

The television kept whispering about the movie, and she yawned again. Bonnie pressed her face into the pillow and curled up, glad it was a warm night and the lack of sheets on the bed wouldn't bother her. She was vaguely aware not long after of the movie being switched off, darkness cloaking the room and something cool winding around her waist. It was reassuring and comfortable, sleep was easy and deep, a feeling of weightlessness and warmth in her heart provided a soft smile. It felt… right.


	7. Put Aside the Math and the Logic

**I keep forgetting things. I also feel like this chapter makes it abundantly clear just how impatient a person I am. Right. See you next week, hope you're all well. :D**

* * *

Sunlight filtered in the high window, playing with funny shapes across the ceiling, but the drawn curtains prevented more from creeping in. A light weight rested across her hips and despite not really wanting to wake up, Bonnie opened her eyes. She was still on the fold-out bed in the lounge, the bowl of popcorn that Marceline hadn't quite finished had toppled off the bed to the floor, scattering food all over the place. And Marceline herself was still curled up beside her, sleeping with her mouth open slightly and one arm draped over Bonnie's hips. The other arm was folded like a pillow beneath her head.

She looked so peaceful asleep like this. There was no mischievous grin, no teasing in her eyes, it was so easy to forget how easily she frustrated Bonnie. For a moment, Bonnibel simply watched her, heart pounding just a little too hard, that unusual fizzing in her stomach again, a tightness in her chest. She shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to dwell on it overly much. Bonnie turned her attention elsewhere, forced it onto something other than her internal turmoil.

Marceline's dark hair pooled across the mattress, in the low morning light she looked exceptionally pale. Unhealthily so, although Bonnie supposed she always looked pale, but right now, she was a grey so pallid it was definitely not normal. And a mark on her neck stood out slightly from the rest, somewhat darker and slightly shiny. A little jagged line down low on her neck, just where it met the trapezius muscle; it was possibly positioned over a carotid artery (the internal ones maybe?) or perhaps above the external jugular. It was hard to say, and probably not all that important, but the scar was quite prominent, remnant of some deep wound that might have been fatal if it _had_ hit an artery. The scarring was faint, so an old injury, but once it had been puckered and it was still ragged around the edges in its slightly curving path across the skin. It was altogether quite an odd scar.

Another oddity presented itself as Marceline stirred slightly: her ears. Hair fell away revealing ends drawn to a point. Bonnie blinked; they looked similar to how elves are often depicted. She knew from research into analogous topics that such occurrences as pointed ears are not uncommon or even unusual, but it was still weird. Tentatively, she reached one hand out to touch the end, almost as if to convince herself they were real. Marceline did such a good job of hiding them behind her hair… and yes, they were real.

Marceline's eyes snapped open. A smile flickered across her lips, that look in her eyes was back, the slow, dark look that made Bonnie's heart skip a beat. Suddenly self-conscious – and embarrassed to be caught touching her friend's ears – Bonnie retreated.

"Good morning, Bonnibel." Something in the way she spoke was off, weird, just as creeping and soft as the shine in her eyes. Bonnie's mouth was inexplicably dry, her palms moist and there was a heavy weight resting inside her chest that she didn't like. She tried to roll away, but Marceline grabbed her wrist.

At first, Bonnie worried why, but then Marceline twisted her hand again – as she had done last night – checking the time. Also as last night, electricity ran along her nerves, lightning striking her spine and she shivered, wrenching her hand away. Marceline's grin broadened as she sat up, stretching and slid off the bed.

"So what's on your geek timetable today, Bonnie?" she asked heading for the kitchen. Bonnibel decided to overlook the part where Marceline ignored the mess on the floor. She was opening cupboards up, presumably looking for food. She hoped they weren't out already.

"Nothing much. Once I've mailed my paper I'm probably going to hang out with Rain," Bonnie informed her with a shrug. Everyone had been bugging her about taking a break for weeks now. She might as well give in and get it over with.

"Cool." Marceline had her head buried in the pantry now. "I'm going out with Marshall and Bubba. Be back here for dinner a'ight? I've got a good movie for you." She backed out with a disappointed expression painted all over her face. It was pitiful.

Bonnie sighed. "I'll get some cereal while I'm out." Then she trudged off to get changed, leaving a now beaming Marceline in the kitchen with a lollipop in one cheek. She ate so badly.

* * *

So, maybe she slammed the door on the post box a little harder than she needed to. It made her feel better. So what if she had an expression like a thunder cloud on her face, while not really necessary, that made her feel better also. What was wrong with her?

She kicked a pebble across the footpath and jammed her hands into her pant pockets. Scowling, she stalked off to meet with Rain, wondering how she was going to sort out this… this… _thing_ inside. No… she knew what it was and it was the scariest of thoughts. There was no way she was bringing it up at lunch. No way.

Still grimacing like she had a sour taste in her mouth, she stormed into the little café where she was meeting her friends and dropped into a seat without even bothering to look around. She just glared into the top of the table and wondered how this could have happened. She'd been so resolute in _not_ liking Marceline and now look what had happened. Bonnie shook her head and exhaled heavily. It… hurt.

"What's got you in a twist, Elle?"

Her eyes whipped up just as Rain was sliding into the seat next to her. Jake and Finn pulled chairs out and flopped down, both of them looked somewhat worried and somewhat happy. It was a bizarre combination that only they could pull off.

"Oh you know…" Bonnie said noncommittally. She shrugged and glanced out the window, arms folded across the table in front of her. Uh-uh, she needed to put on a happy face and play pretend. Rain would be all over her mood otherwise. "Just… Marceline." It was funny how her heart leapt at the name.

"She keep you up late again?" asked Finn. He pounded a fist into his open palm: an implication that wasn't hard to understand.

"No… well… a little." This was stupid. "I was doing work, then we watched a movie… well, she watched a movie and I fell asleep." Which was true. After a fashion. She felt bad for kind of lying to her friends though, and to be honest, she was lying to herself. This was not healthy, she needed therapy.

Rain peered at her, amber eyes worried. "You need to sleep."

"You know not too long ago you were telling me I needed to do more 'fun things'," Bonnie said, her tone only a little bit more acerbic than she meant it. "Now I need sleep more." She smiled, trying to take the edge out of her words. It probably didn't work. "Come on, Rain. I can't have everything."

Her friend sighed; the closest she'd ever come to ceding. "Well at least she gets you out of those books sometimes," Rain mumbled. "You know I worry about you."

"I know. But I'm fine, I promise." This time, the smile was completely fake. Fine… bah. All she felt was hollow.

They never did much when they got together, mostly just sat around talking. Sometimes they'd go shopping; occasionally they'd even see a movie. Today they went to the park and sat in the shade under a tree. It was too hot in the sun, but it was a nice day, not a cloud to be seen. Jake had the forethought to bring a picnic basket with snacks and drinks. It was a nice day really, the anxiety in Bonnibel's stomach even receded to the point where she could almost forget about Marceline. Almost.

She knew that Rain was aware something was up and that troubled her. Rain _never_ left a stone unturned; it was like a sixth sense she had for detecting when Bonnie was evading something.

When the sun hit its apex they wandered across the park to the pond where an ice-cream stall was set up. It was pleasantly refreshing under the baking late spring sun. Well… there wasn't really spring in Australia, but it still wasn't as hot as summer. There was that.

Afternoon faded leaving golden brown light suffusing everything, motes glittered orange and heat lingered defiantly in rocks and bitumen. Slowly, very slowly, the heat of the day was sucked away as dusk settled its glowing wings around them. Now the anxiety wore off and was replaced by anticipation. It wasn't proper that she should look forward to going home as much as she did.

Bidding her friends a good evening, she hurried only a tad faster than usual to her car. Of course, she stopped at the market on the way back to get cereal; the sugary kind Marceline liked best, as many boxes as she could carry. There were butterflies of all things bounding around inside her as she unlocked the door to their apartment and swung it open. She pondered idly about the night before, then decided that reading into things was ridiculous. It was nothing. Friends, they were friends. Nothing else.

With a metallic clatter and a soft rustling _whump_ she deposited the keys and grocery bags on the table. It had remained relatively uncluttered for two months, a success in and of itself. Marceline burst into the kitchen, grinning madly.

"Oh, Bonnie, thank you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Bonnibel's neck. Her breath hitched before Marceline pulled away. "I missed my cereal something fierce." She beamed and proceeded to fill a bowl. "Glad you're back, I've got just the thing for tonight." Marceline waggled a finger and shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "Movie and junk food. We're not eating dinner."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but couldn't stop from smiling like a kid. Her heart galloped in her chest; Marceline's smile had a strange power over her that she didn't dislike. But she did have to clench her hands into fists to stop them from trembling.

"What movie?" she asked around a sudden catch in her throat. _Get a hold of yourself, Bonnibel_, she scolded herself.

But then Marceline's lips twitched up into that little half-smile that made her chest tighten and tingles run down her spine and she gave up. It was just too hard not to care. So she stopped trying. "You'll have to wait and see." Bonnie sat down hard on the lounge, folded back neatly into a chair.

Then, feeling Marceline's dark eyes on her and not able to stand it, she bounced to her feet and hustled down the hall. A shower would fix everything. Clear her head, set things straight. Yes, that's what she needed.

The shower didn't help.

Marceline had already unfolded the couch and set up the television. The side of the bed was strewn with bags, bowls, packets, plates and buckets of junk food. It was quite the assortment and Bonnie wondered where it had come from. It wouldn't surprise her if Marceline had gone shopping. The woman herself was on her knees, already in pyjamas, bouncing excitedly on the bed, waiting for Bonnibel.

Bonnie eyed the arrangement nervously; this didn't seem like a good idea. But that didn't stop Marceline. The woman never seemed to think about things 'being a _good idea_' she just did them and to hang with the consequences. She grabbed Bonnie's wrist and dragged her rather forcefully onto the couch, still smiling.

"Come on, Bonnie," she chirped. "I know you like to fall asleep in movies, but trust me. This one you'll want to see through to the end."

_Trust her…_ That was a novel concept. After so many horror, thriller, zombie infested and otherwise gruesome flicks, Bonnibel was running a little short in that department. It would take something quite incredible to change her mind now.

Marceline reached around her, black hair falling in waves everywhere, to grab the remote and a bag of lollies. Once again her heart skipped a beat, this time from being so close. She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek.

As it turned out, it wasn't so bad. Once the movie started (a film from the 90's called '10 Things I Hate About You'), a romance of all things and one Bonnie didn't mind, it was easy to forget about Marceline. Of course there was singing involved, and rhymes and poetry and all kinds of definitely Marceline-esque things. Skipping dinner to eat nothing but sugary foods didn't even bother her. Still, it didn't take her long to begin a losing battle with sleep.

They couldn't have been more than half-way through the film before she stood, muttering about needing to go to bed. The look on Marceline's face was strange, almost hurt. She grabbed Bonnie by the wrist, gently this time, and pulled her back down.

"Just watch the movie, Bonnie," she murmured, not letting go of her wrist. She could feel her heart rate pick up and couldn't fathom how Marceline didn't feel it too. "This is a bed too, right? You can sleep here just the same."

She leaned against the back of the chair, one arm around Bonnie's waist to keep her down. Her mind kept telling her she'd given up, _remember,_ so why keep arguing. Bonnie curled up against Marceline's side, face buried in her hair but she couldn't sleep, not with her heart hammering like this. Not with Marceline's fingers in her hair.

Bonnie sighed; trying to blot out everything she could and just relax. That warmth inside flared brightly, sending tingles along every nerve in her body, making her shiver, making her breath come short, and it kept sleep at arms' length.

"You alright?" Marceline's voice vibrated in her chest and the question was soft, gentle.

She just nodded.

"Don't lie to me."

_How the flip did she know I was lying_? Bonnie thought, panic rising. She scrunched her eyes shut and twisted her face, trying to hide.

Marceline pushed her back totally thwarting that idea. "Tell me what's wrong?"

Bonnie shook her head. She couldn't speak, her throat was clogged with wool and her tongue was dry.

Those dark eyes… augers… held her gaze. Mesmerising again, concerned… scared? What? The corners of Marceline's mouth twitched, but not with a smile this time, with something else. Bonnie couldn't quite place it but it made her heart cry.

"Tell me." And her tone was so full of fear, of warmth, of… of… heartache?… something, whatever it was, Bonnie couldn't ignore it. But she still couldn't speak. And her face was flushed, heart racing, blood-thunder drumming in her ears and warm, so warm, all over.

She couldn't speak and she couldn't not answer. Her hands tangled in Marceline's collar and she pulled her close, planting a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Every muscle in Marceline's body froze at the same time. Then they melted. Marceline turned her head slightly and it was a proper kiss now. Yes, that's what it was.

The bubbling warm in Bonnie's stomach exploded, shooting lances of light everywhere. Sweet, like… like late spring rain and strawberries. Golden like sunlight; the sun suddenly didn't seem so bad anymore. She was weightless.

Marceline leaned in, pressing her against the couch, hands on the small of her back, insistent. Bonnie didn't care. Not about a thing, she wrapped her arms around Marceline's neck, hands in her hair. She tasted strawberries again, her new favourite food.

Then Marceline broke away, eyes shining, half-smile canted across her lips, teeth glinting in the flickering light from the movie. "What was that?" Her tone was light, airy and her fingers fiddled absently with the hem of Bonnie's shirt.

"Oh… I don't know… Chemistry or something," Bonnie replied, trying her best to sound cavalier. It probably didn't work, she wanted strawberries.

The smile cracked slightly, tilting up a little higher, making Bonnie's heart soar. "Science is awesome," Marceline muttered. "How about you teach me something?"

They didn't see the end of the movie.


	8. Looking For A Little More

**Hey guys, this episode is coming to you a little early this week because of life and reasons. Next week I might update a tad bit late, just giving you fair warning. This is my last week of uni and it's... wow, soul crushing. I don't need sleep right? Also I may have found a plot hole and I'm trying to work my way through that. It won't effect anything I've already uploaded, but... eh. I don't know things. Once I've had time to reread and decide exactly what it was that made me decide this particular story point irritates me, I'll fix it. I just... don't like meddling too much in accepted things. It feels wrong.**

**Anyway, enough of that drivel. Bare with me, I'm sure I can find some brain power lying around somewhere... And maybe I'll stumble across some creative inspiration while I'm looking. Pft. Have a good week, don't let life get you down. That's it's evil plan. :D**

* * *

Waking up wasn't easy. Bonnie buried her face in her pillow… only, it wasn't a pillow. It was Marceline's shoulder and her arm tensed reflexively. Marceline's long fingers tightened, knotting into her nightshirt, refusing to let her roll away.

The fingers were cold, and not easy to untangle, but if Bonnibel was anything it was persistent. Marceline groaned, eyes opening, blinking a few times in the low light sifting through under the curtains. Both of her arms contracted now, holding Bonnie resolutely.

"Good morning," she whispered around a toothy smile. "And gee… isn't it grand?"

She couldn't stop a laugh from gurgling up her throat. It was quite an excellent morning, to be sure. "Let me go, Marceline. I have a lot to do today."

"You _always_ say that," Marceline grouched. Still, she let Bonnibel slither away this time and propped herself up on her elbows, flopping onto her stomach. "Can't you take a day off from your _busy schedule_?" There was a trace of bitter resentment in her tone that Bonnie had never noticed before. Normally her teasing sounded mocking, sure, but never aggrieved. And that's precisely what it was: Marceline was _upset_ of all things.

"I can't just take a day off without warning, Marceline," Bonnie explained, shuffling into the kitchen. Perhaps sleeping in the living room was a good idea. It was _much_ closer to the food, how convenient. "But if you continue to make an annoyance of yourself I'll let everyone know I'll be busy on the weekend."

The other woman perked up at that. "Do that. It's nearly Christmas time, Bon. You know, festive season and all. You've just gotta take time off for that right?"

She sighed, fingers turning to claws on the milk bottle. Oh how she hated Christmas. "Regrettably yes, I will be doing that." She scowled into the fridge. If only she could skip these holidays and leap straight into next year. She'd ignore New Year's as well, that was just as trying.

Marceline's mouth dropped in not-at-all-feigned-horror. "You don't hate Christmas too do you?' she asked in a stage whisper. "You're the Grinch. That's what you are." Marceline lifted one quivering, indignant finger and jabbed it in Bonnie's direction. "You have a problem."

Bonnie sighed again, turning slowly. It was going to be one of those days. "I don't hate the holiday itself, Marceline," she explained hesitantly. "I hate going to my parents' parties."

Her friend's brows drew together as she thought about that. "Parties… _plural_? They have more than one Christmas party?" It seemed Marceline didn't know whether to be happy about that or completely baffled as to why it would be that way.

"Mmm… not precisely." Her fingers drummed against the side of the milk bottle as she thought about it. "They have one in November; a garden party for all their friends, actually that one's coming up fast… this week? Next week? Anyway, then they have one the day before Christmas – to beat the festive rush or some nonsense. They also do a New Year's get-together and on the first of February all our family flies in to do a… a thing." She felt her cheeks heat at that last. Her parents called it a _Clan Meet_ because they thought it was 'cool'. It was just lame.

Marceline tallied it all up on her long fingers. "That's _four_ parties in as many months, Bonnibel. What? Are your parents rich or something? One party is expensive; _four_ would cost a small fortune."

Bonnie whipped around again, refusing to meet Marceline's eyes. Instead, she buried herself in the pantry, hoping something would present itself and she could change the topic. Of course, nothing did. There was very little of interest in their cupboard; it was nearly empty. She'd have to go shopping tomorrow.

Rustling fabric behind her made her look over and Marceline was standing right beside her, mouth agape, eyes round. "Your family is rich isn't it?" It sounded almost like an accusation. Almost.

"Define 'rich'," Bonnie murmured. Playing for time wasn't wise. Marceline had proven herself a worthy adversary in the past.

Marceline folded her arms across her grey shirt and peered at her with her penetrating eyes. "You know very well what I mean, Bonnie."

She threw up her hands, thankful the milk lid was on tight. "Does it even matter? You're rich." That was an accusation she wasn't sure was founded in truth. And she was probably being too defensive.

It didn't even get a reaction. The other woman kept staring. Then she deflated, arms swinging by her sides, a smile lighting up her face. "No, I guess it doesn't matter." She leaned past Bonnie to slide the cereal off its shelf, her proximity eliciting a sharp intake of breath. "Not really." Marceline tilted her head, gently relieving Bonnie of the milk as she poured herself breakfast. "What makes you think _I'm_ rich?"

"Really?" she asked in a flat tone. "I came home that first day you were here and you'd _filled_ the apartment with expensive things. You bought a keyboard if you recall. And you go through hundreds of dollars' worth of food every few days. I can't imagine that's something you took up when you moved in here, you've been doing it a while. You're an expensive person, Marceline, you come from wealth." She leaned in and tapped her friend on the nose. "I come from wealth, I can practically _smell_ it."

Marceline grinned around a mouthful of cereal. "Touché." Pausing, she rested her spoon – a plastic one, naturally – on the edge of her bowl. "So… why do your parents have so many parties? Just because they can, or what?"

Bonnie nodded, slipping onto the chair across from Marceline and mixing her own bowl. "Pretty much. They like to remind everyone who they are. They do Easter and Halloween to the max as well. Birthdays were always a big deal too, but they've been rather low key about them lately. Thank god."

"Not big on parties, huh, Bon?"

"Not even a little. Waste of time." She pondered on that a minute. "Actually, they're pretty good for catching up with people," she amended. "I only see my cousins once a year. That's always nice. I hear one of them has two kids now. Twins. Must run in the family."

Still smiling, Marceline made a second bowl. "So what _are_ you doing today?"

"I have some research to do; both for myself and for work, and I have library duty this morning." She checked her watch and gasped. "For which I'm already late. Thank you very much."

"How is that my fault?" Marceline queried, vexed.

"You kept me up late last night," she called from her room where she hastily changed. "So I overslept. Ergo, your fault."

"Bah, don't act like you didn't enjoy yourself last night." It was cheeky, and if Bonnie could've seen her face, it would've been grinning broadly. They hadn't _done_ anything, although Marceline had discovered that she was ticklish, but she'd been so tired she'd literally fallen straight to sleep.

"I never said… I didn't…" she spluttered, staggering into the bathroom to clean her teeth. Then she hustled back out into the lounge, face bright red, eyes wide. Marceline stood from the table and flounced over.

"Don't worry about it," she whispered, smiling in the slow way she had. "I know what you meant." Marceline inclined her head and brushed her lips against Bonnie's, making her toes curl and her heart skip. "See you later, dork."

Bonnie's fingers twitched as something inside drew her to stay, but she forced her feet out the door and down to her car. It was going to be a long day.

The librarian, Ms Cooter, was an ancient old woman with a bent back who spoke in a monotonous nasal way and seemed to intone everything. She could be quite crotchety with the 'young hooligans' who sometimes stumbled into _her_ library and was quick to shush them when they made too much noise for her liking. This happened rather frequently. And despite her age and her cataract clouded eyes, she moved with a spry shuffle and swung her cane hard enough to sting.

Fortunately, Cooter was not so stern to Bonnibel, who at least appreciated the library. Her wrinkled face split in two every morning when Bonnie strode in, smiling, showing off her somewhat yellowed teeth. Sometimes, Bonnie thought she could actually hear Cooter creaking as she moved.

As expected, the day wore on painfully slowly. Possibly just to spite her, possibly because she kept checking the clock; a watched pot never boils, so she's been told. Because it was nearly the holidays, she didn't go in to her job at the high school, they didn't need her, so she worked extra hours at the library. They were drawn out and tedious, despite the occasional conversation with a visitor or Cooter. This day was punctuated briefly by Rain, who dropped by near lunch.

It wasn't eventful, altogether. They ate at the café across the street where her friend Pete worked. She spent the whole time wondering if Rain could tell what had happened the evening before. It wasn't brought up, so she guessed her fidgeting and inability to make eye contact was disregarded. For the first time she thanked her occasional bout of vague inattentiveness for being something her friends were used to.

Her afternoon was even less exciting, something she hadn't thought possible. Absolutely nobody asked her anything and she ended up slumped in one of the sofas reading. It was a good book and consumed her attention for a while, but despite her fascination with evolutionary theories when the clock chimed 4pm, she pushed it back into its place and headed for the door. Not too fast or Cooter would question it, she usually lingered a while and almost never left without checking a book out as well.

She smiled and waved and took the steps two at a time, landing heavily at the bottom before yanking her car door open and clambering in. This was not healthy behaviour and she had to stop, stop, _stop_. Bonnie took several deep breaths and reined herself in. She needed a distraction, anything at all to take her mind off Marceline.

On cue, her phone beeped.

Bonnie blinked and pulled over to see who it was. Her brother got his own tone when he messaged or called, so it wasn't him. She swiped at her screen and blinked again.

_You, me, Cherry. Tomorrow, 10am. Flam-Bar. Don't be late._

It was so brief, so blunt that it could only be one person, even without checking the sender. Lucy Pinterry was a long-time friend and the absolute _worst_ gossip (and by 'worst' she meant that she ran the rumour mill practically single-handed) she knew. They hadn't seen each other in months for various reasons and Bonnie hadn't expected to catch up until her mother's first Christmas party. This was unexpected, but it did give her an excuse to get out of the apartment.

And Cherry. Gosh it'd been a while since they'd spoken too. She sighed, realising Rain was right; she really didn't get out enough.

"I'm going out tomorrow," she announced as she walked through the door. Kicking her shoes off and dumping her things on the table, she collapsed onto the lounge. "Early, going to meet some friends."

"You have friends?" Marceline's voice emanated from her room.

"Shut up. Yes I have friends."

"What about your _work_?"

"School's out this week, the library's closed for remodelling as of the day after tomorrow and my research is going well. Thanks for your concern," she said dryly. "Besides, I haven't seen them in months. Be nice to catch up before the party and my mother ruins everything."

Silence. Then, "Do you really hate your mother?"

She thought about that for a minute. "No. She just… frustrates me. She and dad are so narrow-minded. Anything that differs from what they believe _must_ be wrong and things are… not the same as when they grew up. They resist change."

"Sounds like someone I know," Marceline sang, materialising beside her. "Change isn't always a bad thing you know."

"I'm well aware, thank you." One example of good change was sitting beside her. She'd never tell Marceline that, of course. But there was a small smile showing at the corner of her roommate's mouth that said she already knew.


	9. A Little More Brave

**Whew, been a while. Sorry this is so late guys, I swear the universe is conspiring against me. Good news though, I should be updating once a week again. So there's that. I also really want to thank everyone who's read, favourited, followed, and reviewed. You can't know how much it means to me. Special note to Percabeth-Fan-4-Ever; your review made me smile. Digital hug for you. I don't much like cherries either. Ew.**

**Anyway, I should probably get back to writing this now. I haven't done any work on it in two weeks and I'm feeling rusty. Gotta figure out what I was doing with the story... oops!~ Yes, props to anyone who saw this coming, I kind of suck at foreshadowing so it was probably glaringly obvious. **

**I'm going to stop rambling now and have a nap. So tired. I really need a sleep. u.u See you next week. :D**

* * *

It was an early start in the morning. Marceline was awake though, Bonnie wasn't entirely convinced the woman slept at all really. The TV was murmuring when she stumbled out, rubbing bleary eyes and clumsily sliding her glasses over her ears. Naturally, Marceline was eating.

"Morning," she sang. Her legs were folded beneath her and she was perched on top of the dining table. "You're up early."

Bonnibel grunted and tromped about getting ready. Marceline chuckled, ruffling her hair as she walked past, slumping into a chair. She was not really in the mood. While she'd slept well, there were so many things buzzing around in her mind that it didn't ever turn off, not properly.

"I've got things to do before I go," she grumbled. It was surprisingly tempting to just flop across the table. Even splashing her face into her cereal didn't seem like a bad idea. Why did she feel so… tired?

"Of course," Marceline replied sardonically. She slid off the table, already walking as she hit the ground. "Whelp. You enjoy yourself today, Bon." Marceline tossed her dishes in the sink and headed into the bathroom. "I'm meeting an old friend today. It's gonna be awesome."

Bonnie perked up as the door creaked closed. The lock was broken, but usually she was asleep when Marceline used the bathroom in the morning. What Marceline did in there was still a mystery, it was utterly silent, and curiosity had been nagging at her for a while now.

She sat up and slid her chair back, trying her hardest to be quiet about it and cringing when it squeaked. With a superhuman effort, she managed not to race down the hall, instead, tiptoeing as silently as she could, pressing her nose against the wood. Her heart pounded in her chest, palms sweating.

Ok, Bonnie knew this was wrong and that it violated all kinds of trust boundaries and would probably not do anything constructive for this weird friendship they had going. But mysteries _annoyed_ her. Marceline had been an enigma for long enough. This morning, Bonnibel was determined to find answers for at least this one.

As usual, there was not a sound coming from the other side of the door. Not a peep. And no detectable movement either. What on _earth_ did she do in there?

Thanks to the broken lock, it was a simple matter for her to press the door in slightly. Soft light pulsed a pale purple colour, spilling around the door. Bonnie frowned; she didn't have anything that made purple light. She pushed the door open just a little further, her stomach tying itself in knots as she waited for the hinges to squeal and give her away.

_You shouldn't be doing this, Bonnibel_, she growled to herself. _This is _not_ going to end well._

The edge of the mirror appeared in the crack. The purple light didn't appear to have much reflection in its surface. It eddied around the edges, but didn't fill as much of the mirror as it should. Watching with a confused expression and a leaden heart, the light swirled towards the middle of the mirror and Bonnie eased the door open a little more to observe it. It took her a long moment to process what she was seeing. Or rather; what she wasn't seeing.

She flung the door open, startling Marceline. The light winked out. Oh.

Eyes narrowed, Bonnie stared at her roommate, then at the mirror, then back at Marceline. Very odd. Very odd indeed.

"Bonnie…" Marceline seemed worried, as though this would somehow be of greater concern to Bonnibel than to her. She bit her lower lip and stepped into the room, head tilted to one side. This was not what she'd expected.

Marceline's hair was swept back over her shoulder revealing her ears, something that didn't happen a great deal. Bonnie crossed to her and without even thinking, ran two fingers around the edge of one ear. With a sharp breath, she pulled her hand away.

"That's… not normal," she informed Marceline.

The other woman blinked and threw a hand out to indicate the mirror. "Um… Bonnie? Are you alright?"

She glanced once at the mirror, where she was standing, but Marceline wasn't. Definitely not normal. "I'm fine. Are you ok? Is this… common… for you?"

Marceline's mouth dropped. "You… you're worried about _me_?"

Bonnie shrugged. Her mind made the mental leap and deduced what everything meant (and it sure explained _a lot_) but she just couldn't accept it. That wasn't possible. It had to be something else, some other explanation.

Marceline's shoulders slumped and she rubbed the side of her neck, an action she did when anxious or uncomfortable. "I uh… was hoping you wouldn't find out… I guess that was stupid, huh?" A smile flashed across her face, but it wasn't even close to her usual vibrancy or sincerity. "So… um… I'm a vampire?"

Can't cross thresholds without being verbally invited, check. Doesn't have a reflection, check. Very pale, check. It was the rest that didn't make sense. She did sleep, and not in a coffin, Marceline wasn't overly affected by exposure to sunlight, she ate garlic. She didn't drink blood either to Bonnibel's knowledge. She voiced the inconsistencies with a puzzled expression on her face. Unless all the variables and results formed an irrefutable conclusion, there was always the possibility that something else was the cause.

The look on Marceline's face couldn't have been more stunned if she'd tried. "I tell you I'm a creature from the blackest nightmares and you're wondering why everything doesn't add up? You've got your experiment face on, Bonnie. Why aren't you running?"

"You haven't killed anyone," Bonnie replied in a deadpan tone, still thinking. "You've never tried to kill me. What have I got to worry about?"

Marceline's legs wobbled and she sat down rather hard on the tiled floor. Bonnibel looked at her then folded her legs and followed suit. Hands on her knees, she leaned forward and peered at Marceline. Who in turn, tilted her head back slightly as if uncomfortable being under such scrutiny.

"I want an explanation for all the inconsistencies, Marceline," Bonnie informed her bluntly. "And answers to my questions."

"You have questions?" That was asked in a whisper. Bonnie just watched her, waiting patiently. Swallowing, Marceline looked away. "I'm old," she began roughly. "I don't really… remember… I've stopped counting; things sort of… run together after a while. I vaguely remember the Roman Empire, but I think I was around before that too. You might want to ask my dad, he'd know. I've never been good with numbers and such." She paused, rubbing her neck and eyeing Bonnie surreptitiously as though wondering if that might have some impact. It didn't.

So she continued. "There weren't many of us at first. My dad was cursed because some jilted lover of mum's didn't like him much and wanted him gone. But some other spell cast by dad's mum made it go wrong. I'm bad at explaining magic, ever since Harry Potter, people expect fancy words and stuff to make it simple. It's not. Anyway, he ended up… undead. I don't know the specifics for the first spell… or the second one either really… All I know for sure is that somehow they mingled and made him a vampire. He turned mum pretty much straight away. Marshall and I were about twenty-three at the time and he gave us the same choice. Obviously we took it.

"Contrary to popular opinion, we do age for the first year, but slowly. It's not an instantaneous transition from alive to dead. So by the time I was fully converted my age was probably closer to twenty-four… hard to say though." She stopped again. "I guess you want me to clear up all those other beliefs, huh?"

Bonnie just nodded and Marceline went on. "Kay, well… sunlight takes a few hours of direct exposure before it hurts. It just tickles otherwise. We wouldn't be very good as apex predators if sunlight was our undoing. So many creatures run around in the day time, limiting ourselves to the night is pretty dumb. We're _more_ active at night because the sun does tickle and sunscreen wasn't invented until the 1900s. It's actually quite effective in keeping the sun from hurting, although it wears off faster on us for some reason. We can eat anything. Literally, anything. Blood doesn't have any particular sustenance value for us really. It's mostly water after all; we'd have to drink an awful lot of it for it to be enough to keep us going by itself. That belief is just because in the Dark Ages a whole group of vampires went psycho-homicidal-maniac and slaughtered thousands because they felt like it. Then drank their blood. Because they were crazy. We eat a lot. Takes a good deal of food to power the undead." Marceline smiled again and this time it wasn't as fake. It wasn't her usual smile, but it was an improvement.

"Stakes to the heart don't work, we sleep because it's less weird for the humans around us, we have to be asked before we can enter premises, we don't have reflections. Duh. Um… that's about it I think." She scrubbed the side of her neck again.

"Population control." It was a prompt. "You said something about crazies in the Dark Ages. Where did they go?"

"Oh, right. Uh… well… you see. My dad is the first vampire, so we all come from him. But he was very careful about creating more. Mum was… less so. So much power is impossible to contain really, and it was only a matter of time before some lunatic decided he wanted to take over the world. When that did happen, dad, Marshall and I sort of… tracked them all down and eliminated them. There's only… maybe… a dozen vampires left. And none of them can turn a human without express permission from dad. And he's got this magical… whatever… that prevents them from trying. I'm not sure how to explain it…"

"Your dad controls the population growth," Bonnie mused. "Very clever. What a good solution. I suppose there are other mythical creatures that exist too?"

Now the smile was real. "You're taking this very well, Bonnie," she chuckled. "Better than I would have thought for a science brain."

She shrugged. "Facts are facts. I'm not going to argue with a living, breathing reason to believe in magic."

Marceline lifted a finger. "Not living or breathing. That's just to make it easier for humans to be around us. We adapt better than any other species on the planet. Best not to arouse suspicion you know?"

"Other species," Bonnibel reminded her. She was peering at her roommate's teeth now. Where did the fangs go?

"Yeah right… so most of them really." She flopped back, propping herself up on her palms. "Werewolves, witches, wizards, shapeshifters, unicorns… I've only met one dragon recently, Gregory, he's Irish. The Brits did a pretty good job of wiping them out, if there are others they've hidden really well." Her eyes rolled up into her head as she thought. "Oliver lives in Loch Ness, he hates being referred to as a 'she'." She giggled. "_Nessie_ drives him up the wall."

"Wait, hold up. The Loch Ness Monster is real?"

"Yeah, a whole bunch of them are. Big Foot isn't, but the Abominable Snowman is, and _her_ name is Raquel. She gets quite grumpy about it too, but at least she doesn't break things."

Bonnie shook her head. "What about other things then? The Tower of Babel, Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, Pandora's Box…" she trailed off, thinking of all the implications for the next one. "What about Heaven and Hell?"

Marceline rolled her eyes. "So many questions. Geez, brainiac, let me catch up. Uh… no, not sure, yes, no, pretty sure no. How's that?"

Bonnibel ran through her questions in order. Only the Bermuda Triangle got a definitive yes, interesting. "Fangs," she said, leaping to a new topic and pointing. "Where are they? And what do you do in here every morning?"

"Fangs," Marceline said, opening her mouth wide. Four fangs, two top, and two bottom, folded out, like those of a snake. "That adaptation took a while and was rather uncomfortable." She grimaced. "What I do in here every morning is cast an illusion so that people don't see my ears, my scar or… anything else that might be considered _unnatural_."

"I've seen your ears and scar," Bonnie pointed out.

"Yes well… you weren't supposed to. Normally I wake up before you and have plenty of time to hide them."

"Why don't you make the illusion permanent?" Bonnie shuffled closer, squinting at Marceline's eyes. They weren't red. Just regular brown. Huh.

"Takes too much energy. I'm not as good at magic as my dad, but I'm _lightyears_ better than Marshall… What are you doing?"

Bonnibel had pressed two fingers against Marceline's neck. "Just making sure you really don't have a pulse."

"You're a freak. Are you really so… _alright_ with this?"

"You're not going to hurt me."

"You don't know that."

Bonnie's fingers knotted into Marceline's shirt and pulled her closer. "Yes I do." Then she kissed her cheek. At least this was an explanation for her freakishly cold skin. And her seeming unconcern for the temperature.

"You're either very brave or very stupid, Bonnibel Bubblegum," Marceline murmured into her ear.

"I've never thought of myself as brave before," she admitted. "But then, I've never had a reason to want to be either."

"Still a freak."


	10. Theirs To Speculate

**I'm late this week, terribly sorry for that. I've been sick for three days and I still feel icky, but I have overcome my surprise illness to bring you this week's installment. Also, I found two more plots holes that I had to work on and hey guess what? NaNoWriMo has made things so much more hectic. Thanks to it, I'm actually now a few chapters ahead of what I've uploaded here. No, I won't be posting them straight away. Thanks to those plot holes I just mentioned, I'm going to hold off on that until they're resolved (and the first part was actually fixing that typo in the last chapter :S).**

**Lol yes! Vampire. Oh goodness. I figured it was about time I did something different. And please no cherries. Yuck. As always, my love to everyone who has faved, followed and reviewed. You guys make my day. And now, have some awkwardness. c: (#JustRealisedThisIsChapter10Wow)**

* * *

"Bonnibell!"

She hadn't even taken two steps from her car before she was accosted. Lucy was waving avidly as she hustled over, Cherry only a few steps behind, more subdued than her enthusiastic friend. Before she had much chance to register what was happening, Lucy had thrown her arms around Bonnie and hugged for all she was worth.

"Good morning," Cherry said in a regular tone as Lucy screeched in her ear. "Sorry about that, she was so excited."

"Clearly," Bonnie replied with a smile. She disentangled herself, as gently as she could. It was nice to see her friends. "You could've just waited until mum's party you know."

Lucy waved a be-ringed hand. "Tosh, never." She beamed, curly black hair piled on top of her head and dressed all in shades of purple. Her wrists were decked with bangles and even for such a casual trip out she wore heels. That was Lucy, somewhat eccentric and somewhat high class. All cunning. The look glittering in her eyes wasn't one Bonnie had missed. "You have to tell me _everything_."

With that, Lucy looped one arm through Bonnie's, one through Cherry's and dragged them down the street. Unsurprisingly, the man at the door to Flam-Bar's waved them through with a wink. Lucy knew pretty much everyone.

Flam-Bar was – as the name suggested – a bar. It also functioned as a restaurant, but they were primarily an alcoholic vendor. Not to say people didn't come in to eat a meal, it happened, at this time of day most customers would be eating on the patio. Bonnie was actually surprised to have been given an invitation to Flam-Bar's so early, Lucy was the kind of girl who came to a bar at night. Still, she wasn't going to complain. The bar had been their primary meeting location during college and hadn't changed much.

Blaze, the owner, a skinny fellow who dyed his hair crimson, was chatting to an older gentleman at a table. When they came in he turned and grinned, hurrying over as they slid onto bar stools. It was quite crowded; nearing lunch Bonnie supposed people would come in for one reason or other. Maybe to eat, maybe the college kids just wanted to get drunk.

"Lucy, my girl," he crowed, hugging her. "Been a long time. How are we all, ladies?"

"Excellent, actually," Lucy replied equally loudly. "You remember Bonnibel don't you? And Cherry? We're spending the day _out_!" Bonnie's heart sank. Of course, there was bound to be more to this than a simple catch-up with Lucy involved.

"Something isn't right here," Bonnie whispered. Cherry glanced over and shot a sympathetic look her way.

"We're gonna find Elle here a boyfriend," Lucy sang, rapping her knuckles along the bar. Bonnibel groaned inwardly. There it was. Lucy was probably doing this because her parents had mentioned something. "There has to be some nice young men in here. It's a good _respectable_ hour of the day; surely they aren't all grog-heads."

Blaze smiled gently, well used to Lucy's fervour. "Of course we have… respectable customers." He made it sound like a silly thing for Lucy to have implied. And if Lucy weren't so completely oblivious to most things like that, she might have been embarrassed. Blaze poured them all drinks – water for Bonnie – and went off to do… his job.

"I don't need or want a boyfriend, Lucy," Bonnie hissed as soon as he was out of earshot. _Definitely not._ She didn't know what exactly had happened between her and Marceline, but whatever it could be classified as, she liked it. Oh God help her. No guys.

The look Lucy gave her spoke volumes. It was an 'are you serious' look if ever Bonnie had seen one. Lucy was – just like Bonnie parents – firm in her belief that everyone needed a partner and Bonnibel was, by managing to avoid any kind of serious relationship with a guy, quite weird. Oh she'd dated at her parents' insistence (they'd even threatened to take her books off her, prevent her from studying, all kinds of nasty things). But those two guys, for those few brief months were the worst decisions she'd ever made. They were distracting and needy and unrepentant in their interrupting. None of them could fathom how important her studies were to her, nor her desire to avoid alcohol fuelled social situations. That said, Marceline was all those things too, but Bonnie didn't mind her as much. Odd.

Sure, Norman had been a nice enough fellow, if kind of dense. Braco was a sweet guy as well, but so intense and extroverted (and slightly possessive) that Bonnie had felt way out of her depth. No, dating was not for her. Not at all. She would remain adamant to that end for the rest of her life. Or at least… she presumed she would. Things changed.

"Oh Bonnibel, please," Lucy exhaled melodramatically. "I don't know what happened between you and Braco, but you have _got_ to get _over_ it. You need a man to take you to your mother's party and _we_ are going to help you." Cherry smiled wanly, probably just glad that attention wasn't on her.

"Look, Lucy," Bonnie began, mind whirling. There was no way she was going to tell Lucy the truth (boy how _that_ would end up) but her mind couldn't think of a decent excuse put on the spot like this. She floundered. Lucy watched her expectantly, waiting for something that didn't come.

Thankfully, Bonnie was saved from finding an excuse. Unfortunately, it was by someone she'd really rather not see. Especially not right now.

"Hello, Lucy, Cherry… oh… Hey Elle." Braco. His freckled face as sincere and boyish as ever, floppy brown hair cut slightly shorter since she'd last seen him, brown eyes still doughy like a puppy's. "You look good."

"Yeah… um, you look well too," she muttered. This was exceedingly awkward. And, as she'd come to realise even more passionately lately, Bonnie hated awkward.

Lucy's expression was triumphant. One way or another, she was going home with gossip today, a success in her eyes. Cherry still looked apologetic, as well she might.

Braco sat carefully on the edge of a stool and folded his hands across his lap, staring at her. Bonnie felt really guilty and couldn't meet his eyes. "How have you been?" he asked softly. It was as though no one else was in the room, just the two of them.

She bobbed her head, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. "Pretty good. You?" Small talk. How pathetic.

"Actually, I've been really quite amazing. I've been hired to work for the mines out west." A smile split his face in two making him look like a kid. "I'm so excited."

"I thought you were into IT," Bonnie noted. Despite herself, something that didn't quite meet her expectations piqued her interest.

"Yeah, well, someone has to make sure all their stuff runs properly." He chortled. "Not what I expected to be doing, but way more interesting than customer service." His fingers were dancing in a preoccupied fashion, the way they did when there was something on his mind that he didn't know how to give voice. "Hey… do you reckon…?" he cleared his throat. "Could we get a drink, you think? Later?"

Her heart sank. _No_, she thought. He was so earnest that being blunt and decisive made her feel like a real jerk. She could feel Lucy's eyes on her and knew this was probably going to end badly. Oh for a miracle.

"Um…" she began slowly, hoping to delay having to answer. She glanced quickly at Cherry, then at the door, praying something would happen. Anything would be better than this.

"Yo." All four of them looked up. A tall young man with short rumpled black hair and brown eyes was standing by the bar. Hands in the pockets of his tattered denim jeans, and a cheeky half-smile tilted across his pale face. Bonnie frowned. That was a familiar smile. "You must be C6," he said, throwing a hand out at Bonnibel. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm H12."

That took a minute to process and when it finally did, her jaw dropped. Numbly, having just been saved a second time today, she took the hand. "Oh," she whispered. "Oxygen." The man's smile widened and she was suddenly sure she knew precisely who it belonged too. She could feel her cheeks heat.

"I'm Michael," he told her friends. Smouldering brown eyes swung back to her and teeth flashed. "You're coming with me, glucose." Bonnie nearly choked.

The hand around hers tightened and drew her off her seat and into the crowd. "Marceline?" she hissed.

"Course, who else?"

"You look like a guy! Are you a shapeshifter too?"

Marceline laughed. "No, it's an illusion."

Bonnie tapped her lip with the fingers of her free hand. "Can you turn into a bat?" That would certainly explain all the 'batty' jokes.

"I'm actually associated with the turtle dove. Don't ask. Was I right in thinking you wanted saving from them?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes," she said, still thinking. Marceline could turn into _turtle dove_? Then move casually onto a new topic like it was no big deal? There would be more on the subject later. Doves aren't even usually connected to vampires. Weird. "Well… I don't mind them, they are my friends, but Lucy has a big mouth, she's a shameless gossip. And Braco…" she sighed.

Marceline looked down at her, hand squeezing hers gently. "What?"

"Ah," Bonnie exhaled. "We dated. It didn't end well. I never said why though and he was pretty gracious about it. Lucy still feels cheated that she couldn't find out."

"What happened?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I just… It felt wrong. I never looked forward to being with him. It was weird. He's so… zealous about everything and that kind of energy just makes me tired. I felt more like his mother than his girlfriend to be honest." She looked away.

"It's alright," Marceline said with a smile. "Better than the last guy I dated. He was a real psycho. And a wizard to boot. Magic and…" her smile turned into a grin. "A sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, and one with a lot of power behind him."

"Sounds like a real pain."

"He was."

"Men, huh?"

"Too right."

They stopped at the bar a way off and Marceline shot a covert glance at her friends. "They're gonna talk about this for a while, aren't they?"

Bonnie folded her arms. "Yes. I don't normally go to bars. I don't normally talk to random people. I don't normally do both together. _Everyone_ will be talking about this for a while."

They were silent a moment. Then, "Did I make things harder for you?" Marceline sounded worried by the idea.

"What? No," Bonnie exclaimed. "I mean, it probably would've been less strange if you turned up as my roommate and declared that we were leaving for some reason. But this… this works too." Her heart felt heavy. She'd thought before that _something_ between them must have changed since the other night, surely. Was it ok to ask? Or did she just assume? She sighed inwardly; she'd never been very good at things like this.

"Hey, Bon," Marceline murmured. "You have your thinking face on. What's up?"

She scrambled all her courage into a little ball and took a deep breath. "I kissed you." Marceline's eyebrows shot up, disappearing under her fringe. "You…" Bonnibel could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks but she had to ask or the not knowing would _kill_ her. She _hated_ mysteries. "What does that make… this? Us?" She waved a hand hoping it would help formulate her question. It probably didn't.

Marceline's expression softened. She leaned over and took Bonnie's hand again. "What are you thinking, Bonnibel?"

Her brows knitted together. "Are we friends?"

Marceline smiled. "Sure, if you want." There was laughter in her voice. As though she found Bonnie's flailing amusing. That made her angry.

"Marceline you're not helping here," she growled. The other woman just chuckled, placing hands on Bonnie's shoulders.

"You're not being very articulate, brainiac," she whispered. "What are you asking me?"

Bonnie huffed. "I'm sure you know perfectly well what I'm asking you."

"I _kind_ of want to hear you say it."

Why was this question so hard to get out? It was just a question. She liked asking questions. Liked knowing they had answers, definite answers. That was much better than mysteries. They were… well… they were mysterious and that just wouldn't do.

She took another deep breath. And then another. "Ugh, you're so frustrating." Marceline just smiled her little half-smile and it made everything better. "Does it make you my girlfriend?" she finally blurted.

For a moment Marceline didn't answer. She knew how much it irritated Bonnie when questions didn't have answers. That's why she did it. That's why whenever Bonnie asked her what she felt like eating for dinner she'd shrug and say she didn't care. Bonnie's expression must have been some sort of hybrid between consternation and fury though, because Marceline didn't keep her waiting long.

"I suppose it does if you want," she said slowly. "Although we should probably go on a date of some kind. Otherwise it might not count." She was joking from the look in her eyes. But the point was she'd answered. A great weight lifted off her shoulders and Bonnie sank back onto the stool.

"Ok then," she replied.

The smirk was back; Marceline leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "If you're my girlfriend you should come with me then," she murmured in Bonnie's ear. Her breath sent tingles along Bonnibel's shoulders.

"Where are we going?" she whispered back. She knew what this would look like to her friends, but in that moment she didn't care.

Marceline's lips brushed her jaw as she pulled away, leaving Bonnie's heart racing and her breath coming in short gasps. She poked Bonnibel's nose and grinned in her blinding way. "Well you've met my brother, I'd take you to meet my dad but that might be going a bit fast for you." She snickered at the look on Bonnie's face when she said that. "But you should meet my uncle, Simon."


	11. A Fight I Don't Mind Losing

**Coming to you early just so I can totally throw in a curve ball. Apparently, I decided that I needed to actually have a plot line or something. So I know when I'm finished. I dunno. Still, it is with much enthusiasm that I inform you all this week: ****_I fixed the plot hole_****. So happy. :'D**

**My thanks to you guest reviewer for saying I got the characters right. That means way heaps more than you know because I kind of thought I broke them a lot. Oh well. I ****_did _****make a pick up line. I want to use that too but no one would get it. As for the illusion thing... I actually had a moment where I realised there were ways of making that incredibly awkward. But Marceline is old, I'm sure she can work something out. I don't mind a bit of lame in my day, especially when it makes me smile. **

**So. Here we go. Begin the lead up to something more exciting. Have a good week!~**

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Her uncle Simon, as it turned out, was the middle aged fellow Blaze had been talking to earlier. He had a head of windblown salt and pepper hair that was more salt than pepper, a short beard and fluffy moustaches. Old hazel eyes peered at her through small round glasses with a bluish tint to them. Unlike Marceline and her brother; he dressed nicely, in a grey and brown suit complete with bow tie. Like the twins though, he had skin somewhat paler than most people, almost blue.

"Sup, Simon," Marceline said, sinking down opposite him in the booth, pulling Bonnie after her. "How've you been? Got any good stories for me?"

A smile flickered across his face; very different to the one Marceline wore. This one was fond and gentle, grandfatherly even. "I don't believe I do, Marceline," he replied in a voice that matched his smile. "Not any that your friend would want to hear."

The implication was inherent: Bonnie couldn't be told any of his stories because she was human. Marceline flashed her teeth at him. She wondered if her knowing about Marceline would be alright… It wasn't something that happened a great deal, she imagined.

"This is Bonnibel, Simon," Marceline said. "We live together. Simon… was kinda like a fill-in-father when Marshall and I were little and dad was too busy… _headhunting_." The look on her face when she said that was more than enough for Bonnie to fill in the blanks. "We call him our uncle but he's really more like a grandfather. Isn't that right, Simon?"

He huffed, his moustaches blowing out and he turned his gaze on Bonnibel. "You're being careful I hope," he said softly, talking to Marceline. Bonnie wondered if she should tell him what she knew.

She twisted her lips together in thought. Then she decided she might as well. "Are you… like Marceline?" she queried.

"Nah, Bon, he's not like me," Marceline told her. Simon shot her a confused look. "Dad offered once, but Simon's pretty good as is."

Bonnie tapped her chin. "You said he helped raise you when you were kids… Did you mean figuratively or _literally_?"

"Literally, Bon," she chuckled. "He was actually around when I was a kid. He's a wizard."

Simon's jaw dropped. "She _knows_?" he spluttered. "But your father told you…"

Marceline shrugged. "She worked it out. She's pretty bright for a human." Then she waved a hand as if it was all completely irrelevant. "Why are you here, Simon? I thought you were spending time further south."

"Antarctica gets lonely, Marceline," he said dryly. "Penguins can't quite replace humans as friends. No," he said, raising a hand to forestall whatever cheeky jibe Marceline was going to make. "I'm not crazy just yet."

"You live in Antarctica?" Bonnie put in, perplexed. What kind of wizard lives in Antarctica? What possible reason could he have?

His smile seemed strained of a sudden and Marceline's face fell. Her question was a bad one it seemed. Her fingers sitting on the seat were cool abruptly as Marceline wrapped her long digits around them. "That's a complicated question, Bonnie," she mumbled.

"Would you like me to answer, Marceline?" Simon asked her. She only nodded. He took a deep breath and fixed his piercing eyes on Bonnibel. "Very well then. For being what we are, magical creatures in every shape and form must pay… a price, for want of a better term. To some creatures, it is more a curse than anything else." His pointed look at Marceline told her what he meant. "Sometimes the price is simple, many witches and wizards have lost their humanity in gaining power. Creatures such as centaurs and mermaids are descendants of such. Vampires gain incredible gifts at the cost of both their humanity and ability to form lasting friendships. They _outlive_ everyone."

Marceline smiled wanly at her but couldn't quite meet her eyes. Bonnie felt a sudden sense of melancholy so profound she felt tears welling behind her eyes. It must be terrible to live through so many infinite years alone. She supposed having a brother, father and uncle might help, but… still.

"Wizards of different kinds pay varying costs," Simon went on. "It's generally a form of decay. I met a witch several hundred years ago who rotted slowly for fifty years before dying. Of course, all magical creatures are long-lived, but sometimes wizards or witches seek eternal life. In my youth, I sought that. It was folly of course, but I didn't know it at the time.

"For my stupidity, I was cursed two-fold, once for already being a wizard and once for trying to delay death. I was granted immortality, but doomed to forget everything that ever meant something to me, living in my own empty mind for all time. With the onset of my memory loss, I grew increasingly violent." His voice caught at some tragic memory lost in the haze of history. "I killed my wife," he said hoarsely. "I don't remember it, but… I've been told as much and I've no reason to doubt it.

"Marceline's father helped me. Vampire magic, it turns out, is quite versatile and Hunter is the best. That was many, many years since and nothing can delay it forever. I've relapsed; things are missing in my mind." He exhaled, fingers splayed on the table before him. "I can feel memories slipping away. I came here to ask Hunter if there was more he could do. I don't have much hope, but… any is better than none."

Marceline stretched her free hand across the table and placed it over Simon's. The one around Bonnie's hand had tightened almost painfully, but she couldn't bring herself to extract it. "I'm sure he'll do his best, Simon," she said thickly. "You're his oldest friend."

Simon shook his head. "He can try if he likes. There's nothing he can do. Not now. It's too late, I've reached the end. The only thing is for him to end it before I can do something truly awful." His eyes flicked momentarily to Bonnie before returning to Marceline.

"Maybe I can help," Bonnie interjected. Both sets of eyes swivelled her way. "I mean, I love neurophysics, I've studied it for years. If it has something to do with your brain I can work it out and Marceline knows a lot about magic, you all do, I'm sure you could explain things."

He blinked. "Neurophysics," he said flatly. "I hardly think science can fix a magical problem, Bonnibel."

She grinned, hoping it didn't look forced. "Magic is just science we don't understand yet," she replied stubbornly. "At least let me try. If I'm wrong and I can't help you then you haven't lost anything. But if I'm _right_ and you don't try…?"

Marceline's hand tightened again. "You… want to try and cure him?"

"Of course." Bonnie looked at her like she was stupid. "He means a lot to you. If I can help it's only right that I give it a go. Besides," she lowered her voice, face flushing again. "You mean a lot to me too."

Her friend broke into a grin. She threw her arms around Bonnie's neck. "Thank you," Marceline breathed into her ear. "Thank you."

"I just said I'd _try_, Marceline," she pointed out. "I can't promise anything." Marceline pulled back, but her smile was still there.

Even Simon's mouth was pulled up at the corners. Oh god, what had she agreed to? "Might I ask, Marceline… Why are you concealed as a young man?"

Marceline glanced down at herself as if just realising that she still looked like a boy. "Oh. Um. Bonnie's friends were harassing her about something. I saved her."

Bonnie grimaced. "You did make the situation irretrievable and beyond complicated though," she said dryly. "Thanks for getting me out and all, but… you could've just been my roommate."

"You didn't tell me what they wanted from you, anyway," Marceline said, ignoring her.

She huffed, hoping she looked irate. "Lucy is a good friend. Yes she's the gossip, but she's still my friend. And I've known Cherry for years too, Braco I dated in college for all of two months. Lucy, apparently, talks to my mother more than I do and she was required to get me a guy, so he could _accompany me_ to my mother's party." She scowled again. "I didn't have a valid excuse as to why I don't want a boyfriend."

"You could just tell them the truth," Marceline piped helpfully.

Bonnie laughed mockingly. "Ha, no. No, I can't, Marceline. My parents would have aneurisms. It would _not_ go down well. At all."

Marceline grinned at her and leaned closer. "You're a rebel child," she whispered.

Bonnibel pushed her away, smiling properly now. "I guess I am." What an odd thing to have transpired.

Simon was frowning. "What did I miss?" he asked, one snowy eyebrow raised. "Something happened didn't it? And I wasn't told."

Marceline had managed to get one arm around Bonnie by this point – and Bonnie wasn't making it easy for her. She was leaning in awfully close and Bonnibel knew her friends were still keeping an eye on them. They'd all be up in arms if something untoward happened. What must Lucy be thinking about all this?

"Since we haven't actually gone out together it seems a bit presumptuous to say we're dating, don't you think, Bonnie?" Marceline asked sweetly. Too sweet, it was as if she'd been drenched in… in glucose.

Bonnie sucked in a breath, remembering. "Hey, you remembered the chemical formula for sugar," she exclaimed. "C6 plus H12 plus O6 is glucose. If my friends knew you'd called me 'sugar' right under their noses, they'd…"

"They'd what, Bonnie?" Marceline growled. "What can they do?"

It didn't take her long to realise what they'd do. "Nothing. They can't do anything. But the fact that I went with you is going to be all over the neighbourhood before we make it to the curb." Marceline was still making a nuisance of herself and Simon only appeared amused. "Please stop," Bonnie complained. Trying to move the much stronger vampire was fruitless, so she just gave up.

"Does your father know, Marceline?" Simon asked softly as Marceline finally managed to kiss Bonnie's cheek. Startled she leaned back and Bonnie exhaled with relief.

"Um… no. But, I will tell him." Marceline was grinning. "Actually, once we've survived Bonnie's parents, I'll set up a time to see him. I'll drag Marshall with; he'll be a good buffer." She nodded as though satisfied with herself.

Simon stood, pulling a bag Bonnibel hadn't seen off the chair. "I should be going," he said. "It was lovely to meet you, Bonnibel. I haven't seen Marceline smile like that in years." He lifted one eyebrow pointedly. "_Years_." She got the hint.

"Thank you, Simon," Marceline grumbled. "Don't hurt yourself."

He chuckled, waving to Blaze as he left. Bonnie wondered if they knew each other. A mystery for another time.

"So," said Marceline as the door closed behind Simon. "Let's do something." She leaned against the chair and grinned at Bonnie. Her cheeky half-smile that made Bonnie's heart skip spread broadly across her face and she elbowed her in the ribs. "Movie?" There was laughter in her voice.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and shoved the elbow away. She was giggling too though because it _was_ funny, if a little crass. "I probably shouldn't just ditch my friends, Marceline."

Marceline's mouth was open, for a comeback, taunt or one of any other assorted verbal weapons she kept at the ready for just such occasions, but nothing came out. Her eyes were staring over Bonnie's shoulder and her expression raced through her usual mischievous to amused and then on to sheepish before settling on smug self-satisfaction. Of course, Bonnie had to glance behind her to find the cause.

"We're heading out," Lucy said, eyes sparkling with an almost evil delight fixed on Marceline. "You coming with?" There was an 'or' hidden between the lines there. _Or are you happy where you are?_

No response was readily available for Bonnie to utilise, so she just sat there for a moment thinking about it. She'd just decided to spend the afternoon with her friends when Marceline spoke up. "I think I'll look after her today, thanks."

Bonnie whipped round to glare at Marceline, who just smiled at her, making her heart stop and her breath hitch and she was pretty much done by that point anyway. She sighed. It took surprisingly less effort than she'd thought to face Lucy again. "I guess I'm staying then," she exhaled. "I'll see you on the weekend."

Lucy's smile was just shy of malevolent glee. There would be stories everywhere by the time the sun set. "I'll see you _two_ on the weekend," Lucy cackled.

"I'm coming?" Marceline asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Of course you're coming," Bonnie shot back without thinking. She regretted it instantly. "But not like _that_ you're not," she added softly.

She waved as Lucy (still looking like she'd just found the biggest pile of money buried in her backyard) bounced back over to Cherry. Braco was gone, thank goodness. Bonnie sincerely hoped he wasn't going to be there.

"This weekend?" Marceline pressed. "I'm going with you to your mother's party?"

"Yes," she said, shoulders slumped. "As soon as they find out I have a roommate they'll want to meet you. I might as well get it out of the way."

Marceline's smile was knowing and devious. "But not as your vampiric girlfriend I take it?"

"Let's get 'roommate' out of the way before we cross that rickety bridge, please."

"This is like _espionage_, Bonnibel," she laughed happily. "I've always wanted to be a spy… or a _ninja_. Oh, this is going to be fun."

"You dress nicely for this party and I'll even call you Bond," Bonnie said wryly.

The smile she got for that made her melt. If she'd died right then, Bonnie probably wouldn't have minded. "You have my word, Madame," Marceline said in an affected accent. "I shall be the most gracious of ladies thou hast ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with." She ruined it of course by flashing her teeth and wrapping her arms around Bonnie's waist. "Promise," she breathed into her ear. "And it _will_ be a pleasure."

Bonnibel fought valiantly to hold back the shiver that ran across her shoulders, but Marceline noticed just the same. And she wouldn't let go either. This weekend was going to be a disaster.


End file.
